Show Your Filled Die Struck-through Error 1909 VDB and other coins

A resent post asked about the apparent residual or image on some 1909 VBD Lincoln wheat cents that is barely visible and in some cases a ghost image. I have one of these.

Some research into this issue is very interesting and maybe not known to some collectors. The website encasedcollectorsinternational ahead some light on this.

Filled dies: The Mint factory has its share of dirt, grease and other lubricants, and metal filings. The recessed areas of the dies sometimes fill up with a combination of this foreign material, preventing the metal of the coins from flowing into the incused areas. This results in weak designs or missing design details. The filled-die coin is one of the two most common types of errors. Filled-die coins are a form of struck-through error. Struck-through errors occur when foreign objects fall between die and planchet during striking. Pieces of cloth, metal fragments, wire, slivers of reeding, grease, oil, dirt, wire bristles (from wire brushes used to clean dies, resembling staples), die covers and other objects may fall between the dies and the coin. The most collectible struck-through errors are those with the foreign object still embedded in the surface of the coin.


As said, I have one such 1909 VDBS coin, from a straight on view you can only make out some type of marks. But from a side view the image appears. I promise that this is not photo shop or a modified photo.

I am starting this conversation to see if others can share their similar coins with the same filled die error. This should become an interesting topic.

 

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Are these coins of any value? Or just to the collector?

 

what year is it?
p, post: 2159964, member: 17656"][/QUOTE]
What year Is It?

 

2000

 

Is this 1909 VBD grease filled die error worth much? Or would it grade as a 1909 non-VDB.

 

the pics above of a 1909P show that it is missing the "L" in liberty. this occurred at the mint--it is not due to wear or circulation. it is to me a good comparison to the original post asking about filled dies. as you can see, the coin has little wear on the wheat or on the obverse, except the L is gone. what value would it have as an error coin and what error would it be classified under? i'd really like some discussion about this. thanks.

 

There is no added value to coins made with grease filled dies. They are very common and many collectors do not wish to own them. Cool to look at but that's about it.

 

Dummer. But it is still a nice coin to have.

 

Value is based on the people buying. I sold 17 with varying degrees of severity for $28 for the lot. So there is potential for these to command a premium.

 

OK, here it is. I was just looking through my recently purchased book, 'The Official Red Book- A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents', by Q. David Bowers, and found something interesting. In discussing the removal of the 'V.D.B.' initials on the reverse, he quotes a letter the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury C.D. Norton sent to that the letters can't be erased from the mother die because it is intaglio, and it would take at least 14 days to make a new one:

"This delay can be avoided by simply erasing the V.D.B. from the hub and having no B whatever on the coin. From the amended hub (italics mine) the coinage dies can be rapidly and promptly struck off within three days and the mint can continue the coinage of the pennies for which there is great demand..."

Sure sounds to me like they used the hub that still had remnants of the 'V.D.B.' on it to make the working dies.
Charles Barber, designer of the Barber dimes, quarters and halves, didn't want just the initial 'B' (for Brenner) on the cent because he was afraid people would think it stood for 'Barber', and he was opposed to the minting of the Lincoln cent.

Buy the book before the coin

 

Correction to above post: Norton sent the letter to his boss, Secretary of the Treasury Franklin McVeagh