1910P VDB cent? - You be the judge.

coppercoins

I received the cent in the mail from RD5425 that was the subject of a thread last week. I took the time to examine it and take photos of the area in question, and I frankly can't see anything outside a normal 1910 cent. I have linked three photos below. Load each of them into a browser and use the "back" and "forward" buttons to compare the two coins for yourself. The first photo is of a 1909VDB cent of a relatively comparable grade to the 1910 cent. The second photo is a 50% overlay of the 1909VDB over the 1910 cent, and the last photo is of the 1910 cent alone.

So what's your opinion?

photo #1 - the 1909P VDB alone.
photo #2 - the 1909P VDB at 50% over the 1910P.
photo #3 - the 1910 cent alone.

sinin1

I can't see much of anything on the 1910

maybe top parts of the V?

ksteelheader

Chuck, I do think I see something where the "B" should be, but it may be something other than that. My thought is that at that magnification, it should plainly visible. With that in mind, I say no vdb................Thanks, Ken

nwcs

It's very hard to tell. The mind will insert what it wants to see here. I don't think there is anything. The only thing my mind tells me is that there looks to be a shadow remnant of B.

Singapore

I am not an expert on these, but I don't see anything.

And I would say that any coin that has an 'error' that when viewed under this power magnification is still not plainly visible is a little hard to get excited about.

Are all the 1910 VDBs like this?

coppercoins

I guess I should add that I used halogen, incandescant, and fluorescent lighting to view the coin with the lighting at different angles and with the coin at different angles. I took the overlay photos first, so I could pinpoint the exact position where the letters should show while viewing the coin with different lighting angles and techniques. I can see somewhat faintly and very vaguely what you're talking about in the photo with the V and B, but when I view the coin, it's just not there no matter what I try to "make" it show up.

Spinynorman

I can see the possibility, but nothing convincing, cd. Thanks for posting the pics.

gmarguli

I can't see it.

Baley

heh, good luck trying to convince anyone that there's a VDB on the back of that 1910 coin.

my rules of thumb for "varieties" such as doubling, over mintmark, recut dates/legend, etc:

1. If it's plainly obvious without magnification, scarce, and in demand, it gets a premium.
1a. If its obvious but demand is smaller, it still gets premium, but a lesser one.
2. If it takes a good close look to see, is scarce, and in demand, it gets a premium, probably smaller.
3. If it takes lots of imagination to see, and even then is questionable, regardless of scarcity or demand, it don't get no premium.

coppercoins

<< <i>My rules of thumb for "varieties" such as doubling, over mintmark, recut dates/legend, etc: >>



Odd that the market doesn't follow your rules of thumb. There are many rather difficult to see die varieties that command a very hefty premium value. We weren't discussing value here anyway.

Besides all that, we're not discussing a variety here. This would be a mule error (if it were so) since there were not supposed to be any VDB cents in 1910.

Baley

heh, ok then!

I'm sure some collectors pay a lot extra for a hard to distinguish and very rare variety, and thats great!

good for them i say!

mrfred

Sorry, I don't see it either on the 1910.

coppercoins

Yes, "some" collectors numbering in the thousands with two national clubs, many regional clubs, dozens of web sites devoted to it, and no fewer than 20 different books and three national magazines published on the subject.

hookooekoo

It seems to me that if this were truly a VDB, more of it should have been protected by the rim. Looks more like dings in the area where a VDB would go.

IMHO, it ain't VDB.

Steve27

All I see is "SEX" but it's probably just me.

agfox

Well I don't see it. *shrug*

clackamas

Sometimes errors can be less convincing when viewed under magnification higher than 10X. However the coin in question is so circulated and has a rim ding in the area that it is highly questionable that there is actually a VDB punched in. Circulated coins from 1909 with the VDB will show clearly even with this much wear. The 1910 cent is common in MS and such a blatant mint error as including the VDB on a 1910 cent would almost certainly been found on an MS coin somtime in the last 93 years.

coppercoins

I tend to agree with you there Clackamas. I am completely unconvinced that these proported 1910 VDB cents exist. I have seen four examples of reported specimens now, and none of them show any sign of a VDB. I don't know what it was that Bill Fivas saw a number of years ago that started this whole subject, but it had to have been much more than I've ever seen.

satootoko

VDB arimasen, nada, zip, zilch, nicht, and the same in any of the hundreds of languages I can't say anything in.

shylock

I see what may have led the owner of the coin to think it was a VDB. There's a rough outline in the shape of a D, in between where you overlayed the D & B, which is twice as large as the authentic initials. Looks like contact created this illusion.

Coppernicus

My guess is that a small circulation mark (or two) are suggesting a ghost of a B and the mind takes over. I see no evidence of a VDB on the 1910 solo photo.

Mike

lathmach

I've found that in looking at varieties where the detail can be hard to see, if you view the coin at angles, sometimes it helps.
Looking at this scan, my opinion is the same as the others here. I don't see any remnants of the VDB initials from the 1909 die.

Ray

kranky

I'm glad to have a chance to check out the photos, but I'm also in the "don't see it" camp. The overlay was a cool concept.

clw54

Resuscitated

flaminio

<< <i>Resuscitated >>

But why? The pictures are long gone, making the thread rather pointless.

dbldie55

<< <i>

<< <i>Resuscitated >>

But why? The pictures are long gone, making the thread rather pointless. >>



He is the Thread Resuscitator, he does not worry about the details.

clw54

The discussion is still there.

Dennis88

Steve27

" Resuscitated"

Why?