Just sitting at the dinner table separating my pennies by dates when I come across this oddball. At first glance and with warm lights above, this LMC looks like it has been painted camouflage. I step outside and and take pics with direct sunlight. Come back in, photograph in LED white light on black background. Other than obvious PMD and the green stuff, there are a few noticeable die cracks on the obverse, plus it looks like a slight depression of another figure. If you focus on Abe’s mouth, I see what looks like a painted portrait of an ape, facing Abe. HOWEVER, if I turn the coin ever so slightly, I see the image of Abe, bending over a little. On the reverse, sitting Abe looks like the backside of a centaur. Thoughts, opinions, theories & explanations are greatly appreciated!
Ok.. Here is a theory I have shared before.. I am a maintenance person for a commercial building. Part of my job is cleaning the front of the building area which includes the sidewalk and both entrances. Main lobby and freight delivery entrance. I work in midtown Manhattan in NYC where there are many bars and restaurants open late. There is an establishment at my location called Oscar Wilde which is an Irish bar. There are also many homeless people in the area that sleep outside. So why am I sharing all this? Coins are discarded all the time on the sidewalks and door entrances of our buildings and it is my job to clean them up. People urinate on these coins. Usually drunk bar patrons and the homeless. It's nasty but it is true. So.. Many coins that you find in circulation are stained and dirtied with urine and or all other kinds of bodily waste and fluids.. The ape like stains could be just that.. Dried urine. Just wash your hands very good after searching through them!
Yuck! ALWAYS wash my hands after handing coins! Never heard stories about coins being urinated on, but do know where paper money could have been! lol. Thank you Paddy! PS: I wish I could get a better pic of the depressions on the obverse tho...I can see and feel them.
Off-topic...thank you for doing what you do! Not a fun job for the most part but I’m sure you have LOTS of stories you could tell! lol