Odd lettering on a wheat cent

GaCoinGuy

I found a 1951D wheat cent in my change the other day and upon closer inspection, the E in WE looks to be misplaced, or rather, it's not lined up right with the other letters. As you read from left to right, the IN GOD WE TRUST, the E is lower than the rest of the letters, it is noticable with out magnification, under 10x you can see a definate difference in the distance from the top of the E, compared to the other letters.


Is this a slight die variation or just a fluke when the cent was made? I wish I could get a good pic of it, but my digital camera won't get in close enough.

Conder101

Since all of the dies are created from the same master hub there can't really be a difference in the placement of a letter on a modern coin such as this one. however excessive polishing of the die in this area can cause a slight reduction in size of the letter(S) in the affected area. This would have the appearance of a letter that is further from the rim than the other letters.

A good example of this can be found on the reverse of the 1937 D three legged buffalo nickels where the motto E Pluribus Unum is further from the buffalos back than on other coins because of the polishing the die received.

GaCoinGuy

Thanks for the info, Conder. Well, I didn't discover a new variety, but I think it's encouraging that I noticed something as small as that.