1913 Cent. Proof or business strike?

RonnyW

I bought this Lincoln cent because I thought it was a proof and not a business strike from the pictures.
I received the coin in a couple days ago and it definitely looks proof to me. Bases on the squared rims and the strike. Anyone else think it’s a 1913









proof cent?

MFeld

Business strike.

hummingbird_coins

https://www.lincolncentcollection.com/1913diecharacteristics.php

It can be hard to capture many of these characteristics in a picture, so I recommend examining under magnification. One thing that did stand out to me is that your coin seems to be a match for "broken element on the left side of G in GOD".
Diagnostic:

Your coin:

MFeld

@hummingbird_coins said:

It can be hard to capture many of these characteristics in a picture, so I recommend examining under magnification. One thing that did stand out to me is that your coin seems to be a match for "broken element on the left side of G in GOD".
Diagnostic:

Your coin:

Look at the picture of the coin's entire reverse - third one up from the bottom picture. Have you ever seen a Matte Proof Lincoln cent with such little detail??

RedRocket

Faith reigns eternal.

hummingbird_coins

@MFeld said:

@hummingbird_coins said:
https://www.lincolncentcollection.com/1913diecharacteristics.php

It can be hard to capture many of these characteristics in a picture, so I recommend examining under magnification. One thing that did stand out to me is that your coin seems to be a match for "broken element on the left side of G in GOD".
Diagnostic:

Your coin:

Look at the picture of the coin's entire reverse - third one up from the bottom picture. Have you ever seen a Matte Proof Lincoln cent with such little detail??

Given only that picture, the texture of the luster would make me think business strike. However, the coin's appearance with different lighting is convincing enough to make me hesitate.

RonnyW

Hey guys, thanks for the input. I took a couple more pictures. The coin appears matt to me, but the pictures can look quite different.

FlyingAl

Can you take better images in different light? Hold your phone parallel to the coin.

RonnyW

@FlyingAl said:
Can you take better images in different light? Hold your phone parallel to the coin.

Yes I will.

ambro51

A matte proof will have sharp completely smooth rims (edge on).

RonnyW

@ambro51 said:
A matte proof will have sharp completely smooth rims (edge on).

Here are some more pictures including the edge. Thanks.

coinshop

business.

ambro51

Yup. I do agree on the chipped letter, but going through all the other obverse and reverse “scratch” die markers, I see none. 1913 MPLs are known for vivid coloration. This one has no color. The rims are not matte edge sharp, and not from a polished collar.

RonnyW

Okay thank you all for your opinions. I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s still a nice coin.

mark_dak

@RonnyW said:
Okay thank you all for your opinions. I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s still a nice coin.

This is the best place to ask for sure... plenty of long-time collectors here with solid knowledge.

Mark

Creg

@RonnyW said:
Okay thank you all for your opinions. I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s still a nice coin.

I know your pain.

Welcome.

thebeav

Great looking cent !
Also a nice job on your thread title. It's nice to have threads able to come up on a future search in a given topic.

MarkKelley

Matte proof Lincolns should have mirrored edges. This one does not.

WaterSport

This does not mean you should not stop looking for them in the wild. Common dates like 1910 and 1911 have been found. Plenty of folks have thought they found 1916's but thats because they reworked the die that year and there are plenty of very nice business strikes with wide rims. If you want to know more - buy Keven Flynns book, or Carl Waltz book on diagnostics. You can also study the Trueviews here on this site.

WS

RonnyW

@WaterSport said:
This does not mean you should not stop looking for them in the wild. Common dates like 1910 and 1911 have been found. Plenty of folks have thought they found 1916's but thats because they reworked the die that year and there are plenty of very nice business strikes with wide rims. If you want to know more - buy Keven Flynns book, or Carl Waltz book on diagnostics. You can also study the Trueviews here on this site.

WS

Oh thanks. I’ll definitely do that. 👍