Lincoln Mintmark Locations - Will varieties ever get this granular (37D's Inside)

StrikeOutXXX

I was going through a batch of circulated Lincolns looking for RPMs, DDs, Varieties, etc which all seem very well documented in various books.

After staring endlessly through a loupe, I noticed many years where the mintmarks are simply a bit different.

I had 9 1937-Ds, and as you can see, there are a few various locations or angles for the D Mintmark.

In today's age of coin collecting, it seems we love to annotate every variation of a coin out there, but... I don't remember ever seeing any catalog, reference, #'s, etc etc for simple differences in mintmark locations.

So my question is - do you think at some point in the future, someone will try coming up with a catalog of simple differences such as these?

I only had 9 1937-D's today, but I can see similar differences in many other mintmarks of the era.


I'll spare you the full OBV pics, here are just the mintmarks to show the slight differences I'm talking about. A few are the same it would appear, but several are noticeably different.

WaterSport

Thats what you get when you hand punch mintmarks. And while its critical for me to use mint marks location to help ID a variety, the only other purpose is to ID actual dies used. But I doubt they will ever be used as individual varieties unto themselves.

WS

lasvegasteddy

So my question is - do you think at some point in the future, someone will try coming up with a catalog of simple differences such as these?

i wouldn't think any interest in such would or will happen

TheRegulator

Check out Mint Mark Positions on Lincoln Cents by W.B. Doughty, 1957.

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>Check out Mint Mark Positions on Lincoln Cents by W.B. Doughty, 1957. >>



Never even heard of it, but found a copy at Abebooks - 40 pages with no pictures, was it an attempt to identify working dies primarily, or go year by year up to then with the differences noted paying specific attention to just mint mark locations?

Obviously there were dozens upon dozens of working dies used, I was just curious if some day (even if it's 50 years from now) somebody comes up with an Overton-Type of reference to dies (encompassing the mintmark locations).

I can see my great-great grandkids saying "I just got a MS-97 36-D Lincoln with the (Doughty) Die 7 High and Left D"


This seems like quite a project as I was thinking of it, but when we are done cataloging everything else out there, just wondered how granular the hobby will get looking for the next area of interest.

GrumpyEd

I think there are way too many dies used.
Many have similar positions, it would take an insane amount of work to list the positions and markers in each stage even for one year with many dies. It would be hundreds (or thousands) of dies per year. I'm not sure when the change occurs but modern years are definitely using thousands of cent dies per year.

I do think that for rare keys with only a few dies used that people might start caring more about identifying by the die, partly because it's part of verifying that the coins are not fake. But those keys only have a few dies used.

TheRegulator

I personally do not have a copy of the Doughty work. But I remember seeing some pics of copy either on ABE or eBay and just could not get excited over it. I think it may have used a system like Newcomb used with PLD/PLS/PLF/PLC and his PL/L/NL/C/NR/R designations but to describe mint mark locations. Perhaps with degree of rotation. It would have to address each individual working die. Maybe someone with a copy could chime in.

I do enjoy collecting RPMs and the whole process of discovery and research, but mint mark positions is just a bridge too far. Just not something that can get me excited.

ricko

As the hobby becomes ever more 'granular' (neat term - and applicable), it certainly could become a point of interest... after all, we already have focus on
+/*/grade/tarnish/holder/label/TPG/FPG/RPM/cud/die cracks/DDO-R/FS/MS/PR/Satin/Wood Grain/etc., etc., etc.......Cheers, RickO

messydesk

Mint mark positions are useful if you're trying to identify every die, but if there are no interested users of that information, then it's just extra information. Also, if the goal is to identify every die, the two things working against you the most will be wear on the coins and the fact that it won't work for coins from Philadelphia.

We use it on Morgan dollars, and it helps identify the dies used. With a couple exceptions throughout the series, however, nobody is interested in the mint mark position only for its own sake. For Peace dollars, there are some dates where the mint mark position has been studied, but the softness of the design makes it less clear. For 1921 Morgan dollars, it's only noted when there is a large shift from what would be considered the normal position.

19Lyds

<< <i>So my question is - do you think at some point in the future, someone will try coming up with a catalog of simple differences such as these?

i wouldn't think any interest in such would or will happen >>

"F" someone did, it would be a "Labor of Love" in an attempt to attract others But given the fact that there could be literally thousands of different position combinations involving mm distance variations, I don't think much interest could ever be built. The typical coin collector likes it short, sweet and easy.

However, there are some notable mm placements such as when the mm actually touches the date such as the 54-S



and the obvious OMMs.