Question for Lincoln Cent collectors/dealers

ajaan

First of all let me saw that I collect darkside coins so I'm not up to date on US coin collecting.

Recently I was given my late uncle's Lincoln Cent collection. The set is in a Whitman album and is missing a few coins - 1914-D, 1926-S, 1931-S, and 1955 Double Die. My uncle took all the other coins out of circulation. The 1909-S VDB he got in the early 1940s while he was stationed states-side in the Army. I sent that coin in to be certified a few years ago when my mom had the set.

I would like to fill in the missing holes in the Whitman album. I have a few questions:

#1 is it OK to buy the 1914-D and 1955 Double Die 'raw'? I want to keep the coins in the album. Are these coins commonly found counterfeited or with added mintmarks?

#2 in the 1922 'plain' hole my uncle placed a coin that has just the hint of a 'D'. Is this common for this coin? I know all the coins were minted in Denver this year and the 'D' was just a filled die.

My uncle died in 1980 and I would really like to get this set complete and keep it as his memory. Any answers or advise you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Murphy

#1 - The 1914-D is commonly counterfeited. The 1955 DDO is counterfeited too, but not as commonly. In my opinion, it is alright to buy them raw and put them in an album or else have them slabbed. I personally like the Dansco book, because I can see both sides of each coin. That might be alright for the common coin, but you might consider having your 1914-D and 1955 DDO slabbed when you fill those holes. But that is your decision.

#2 - There were no cents produced at the Philly mint in 1922, yet coins show up as 1922 plain, no mint mark, as if produced in Philadelphia. They were produced in Denver by three different dies that were so worn or filled with grease and debris that the mint mark became nearly or completely invisible. I am getting this information right out of Chuck Daughtrey's book, Looking Through Lincoln Cents. He tells the differences between each die and if you had a copy of his book, you could easily tell whether your grandfather's coin is the real deal or just one of the almost there's. So, I would strongly recommend that if you want to take the best care of your cent collection, that you get his book and take the advice contained therein. He is THE penny expert imo.

I had an uncle who died in the 80's. He was a collector. By the time his collection made it to me, all the really good coins were sold off and all I got were a few rolls of buffs, 50's cents and three counterfeit pennies that he made himself. Besides being a collector, he was a jeweler. The picture below is a photo of one of many of his 1914-D counterfeits. He made them by the handfulls. Same with the 1909-S vdb and I'm sure he made a lot of 1922 plains. I would urge everyone to check your coins under a microscope after purchasing them in order to verify authenticity. But have a good book nearby so you'll know what you're looking for. Good luck in filling the holes in your collection, I am doing the same. (Looking for a 1931-S in ms-65 condition at present.)

ajaan

Thanks for the reply. I think I'm better off getting the 1914-D slabbed and just breaking it out of the slab and putting in the album. The Whitman Bookshelf Album the coins are currently in shows both sides of the coins and since none of the coins are Unc., I want to keep them in that album.

merz2

The info you've received from Murphy is quite correct.Chuck's book is one of the best on Lincoln Cents.The 1914-D will be a toughie ! The 1922 you have is refered to as a weak D.Good luck !

cladking

The '22 which sells for a lot of money has a strong reverse with a heavily worn obverse
and not a hint of a "D".

What year does the set end at? Are you going to bring it up to date or to 1980?

ajaan

The last coin in the set is 1965. I'll probably let it finish there since that is when my uncle stopped filling the book.

LincolnCentMan

Dont by the 14-D, 22-Pl, or 55/55 raw. Get them in a PCGS, NGC, or ANACS (preferably PCGS or NGC) holder and crack them out to put in your album. It's worth the extra money to MAKE SURE you're getting the real deal. The 26-S is common in lower grades, so that one shouldnt be a problem. The 31-S is realativly common place VF to MS64RD. There's no reason to buy those slabbed.

David

Also, the best 22-Pl to get is a die pair #2, also known as a "strong reverse."

Bochiman

Ajaan,

If you just want an authentic one, for the best price, to keep it intact in memory, I would recommend getting ANACS most likely.
They command less of a premium than NGC/PCGS and you are cracking it out anyway....no telling when you, or anyone, will try to send it in for reslabbing so why pay the extra?

Cool thing you are doing (I am keeping a few coins that I got from Grandma and I doing coins together almost 30 years ago, so I kind of like the nostalgia thing )

Ron

xbob

Another idea is to go to a coin show to purchase them raw but take them to the ANACS table first for free authentication. At the Baltimore show, the person behind me was doing just that with a 1909-S VDB. I'm not sure what the dealer held as collateral, but the coin was authentic and she bought it to complete her set.

Or you could have Merz look at it if he's there