Okay, I have this really weird penny and I havent been able to find a comparison anywhere online. This is a 197? D Lincoln memorial penny. (71,73,79? last digit is printed on the edge and is hard to read. The coin is smaller and thicker than the normal lincoln but not much smaller. The edge is just above Lincolns head and it touches the two bottom corners of the memorial. (typically there is a space there). The edge overlaps the face and back and the edge is as thick as a nickel. "In God we trust" is not visible on the coin at all because of the size. "E pluibus unium" is not legible, however it looks like it might have been printed on the coin ...very subtle indication of it. The "L" on "liberty" is almost printed on the ridge of the coin. "United States of America" is mostly visible but some is mostly printed on the rim of the coin. (and part of united looks to be under the rim) "one cent" is printed slightly on the rim too. I'm not sure what to think about this....what kind of error would this be called? What is the value range?? Any help would be great. moonstruck_archangel@yahoo.com Thanks!! -Ve
Hi, and welcome to the forum. This sounds like it was damaged outside the mint. If you could post pictures of it we could tell for sure. If it is post-mint damage, then it is not worth more than a cent. Charlie
Uploaded a scan of the penny next to a standard penny. up close, it does not appear to be after-mint damage. What do you think?
That is post-mint damage. It looks like the rim was rolled and it was then dipped in acid. It is just worth face value. Charlie
This is sometimes referred to as a "spooned" coin. If you have the spare time, and patience, you can get a pre-1982 lincoln to look the same by tapping it with a steel spoon repeatedly. Supposedly the goal was to turn the coin into a ring by drilling out the center once the rim had been sufficiently thickened. The most common way that coins end up this way though is industrial washing machines.
Here is a more extreme example.It's a 1944 quarter that I suspect someone was trying to make into a ring and gave up halfway.
