Okay, I know this question has been asked before........

littlewicher

How do you tell the 1981 coins from a type 1 and a type 2?

LanLord

I beleive the differences are in the seriphs on the mm. Unfortunately I don't have any pics, but the type II, has more pronounced seriphs.

littlewicher

I knew it had something to do with the clearer mm as they say. I just want to know how to tell the difference. Does anyone have any pics or guidance?

ClarkOfKent

LW,

I have some pics... hang on a bit, and I'll post them.

Clark

DHeath

LW,

Type two is the clear-S. Type one MM resembles a blob. If it is a proof coin with an indiscernable (naked eye) MM, it is type one.

littlewicher

Score! I compared a set that I got in the mail today to one I've had. The one I got today has a much clearer mintmark then the one I've had. That $10 auction payed off.

Coulport

The Red Book has excellent pictures of Ty 1 and Ty 2 under the SBA heading.
Check it out.

Don't feel bad. Probably most dealers can't tell the difference either.

littlewicher

I don't have a redbook. Could anyone scan the pictures? Pretty please?

ClarkOfKent

LW,

Here ya go, laddie. BTW, DHeath... the "blob" MM was on the '79s. The '81s are a lot harder to discern.

Here's the pic from the Redbook. It's from the SBA page:

As you can see, the '79 T2 is the same as the '81 T1.

Here's some scans of JFKs that I just made:


Hope this helps.

Clark

goose3

can anyone tell me what this one is.........from my 1981s proof set also.
this resides on that ugly anthony chick.

ok, which ones are the better ones to have on the 79's and 81's.


Thanks


LW, PM me your mailinginfo and I will mail you a recent redbook.
no one should be without one of them


Also, regarding the proof sets. Have there ever been any known that came from the mint with a mixture of typ 1 and 2 coins??

DHeath

Great pics Clark. I went back and looked at Dr.Wiles book after I read the thread, and discovered something I hadn't paid attention to before. The Type II 79 Kennedy MM style is the same as the Type I 81. Now that was surprising. Both are MMS (mint mark style) 003. I wonder if it is the same for the other 79-81 coins? There are only three MM styles style-1 (1979 T1), style-2 (1979 TII,1981 TI), and style-3 (1981 TII).

littlewicher

Man, I'm looking at the coins with a 15X loupe and I still can't tell! How do the PCGS graders tell?

ClarkOfKent

LW,

If you're looking at '81s, the Type 1 looks more upright and symmetrical. The Type 2 looks like it's slanted to the right, because of the bulbous, protruding ends on the S.

Clark

littlewicher

Okay, I'm now looking at the coin under strong light. Now I think the coins are type ones.

richbeat

goose,

You have the 1981 Type I. Check the photos above your post.

wayneherndon

Don, yes, the 79 T2 mintmark is the 81 T1 mintmark for other series as well. There have actually been a total of 11 different styles of S mintmarks used. David Lange's Lincoln Cent book has photos of all of them on page 42. Six different styles of D mintmarks are shown on the prior page. They're very interesting to look at and one key factor in detecting counterfeit key coins with altered dates or added mintmarks. If the coin doesn't have the proper mintmark style for they year, stay away from it.

LW, et al, the Greysheet monthly had a article by one of the SilverTowne guys a few months back with pics of the 81-S mintmarks. He actually wrote that there are three 1981 S mintmarks, not two. I've always had trouble telling these apart and after I read the article several times and studied the pictures closely, it was as difficult as before. I've not heard anyone else claim three different mintmarks but this guy attributes the presence of the third one as the reason so many of us have problems telling these apart. He claimed to have done a test where he sent several hundred of all three mintmarks to a grading service and even they missattributed a large portion of them (mostly of the third mintmark which is somewhere in between the other two).

WH

littlewicher

I was looking at my two sets last night and the one coin set was a type 1, I think. The second set, however, looked like a mix between the two. Maybe it is a 3rd style mm.

cladking

LW; Many of these proof sets are mixed type 1's and type 2's. So you no doubt
have some type 2's in the one set.

There is an '81 proof mint mark that looks very much like the type 2. It may well be
a third type, or it may be some hubbing characteristic which causes it to look a lit-
tle different. It frequently will have a clear field and the serifs do look a little different
than the other type 1's. It has an only slightly higher incidence than the type 2's.
Look at the top of the "S" on the type 2's. It looks like it's "bent upward" a little.