Susan B. Anthony OMM found? ***REQUEST PICS ADDED

Bodin

I went to the flea market over the weekend and bought an unopened $100 bag of P mint SBAs in hopes of pulling a few wide rims or high grade examples. I found quickly that I had 3 different obverse dies in this bag. One was an extremely LDS, one had a crack across star 5, and the last had this mark above the "P". When I looked closer, it looked like an "S" Over Mint Mark.
The "S" doesn't resemble either of the 79 S varieties, instead it is VERY similar to the 74 S found on the Lincoln. I know nothing about how dies are made, so I'm sure a bunch of you will tell me this is impossible, but look for yourself and let me know your thoughts. Overall, I pulled 30+ of these from the bag.









1979 S mintmarks




1974 S mintmark on Lincoln




********************REQUESTED PICS

planetsteve

Nice work on the find, the images and your presentation here.

AUandAG

I agree that it looks like the cent S mint mark.


bob

Meltdown

Hmmm. Sure looks similar.

kranky

Cool! What year are the SBAs?

Bodin

<< <i>Cool! What year are the SBAs? >>



1979 P

StrikeOutXXX

They were still hand punching working dies with mintmarks in 1979, so anything is possible.

I find it hard to believe a Lincoln "S" was used. Actually I can't imagine Philly would use an S at all unless they were preparing the dies for SF, and decided to keep one for Philly after it was punched, but that doesn't explain why the known SBA "S" doesn't seem to match. Maybe a toolmark, or a messed up "P" they tried to fix, who knows.

There is definitely something there, just not sure what it is - but it's neat for sure.

Any chance of a whole coin shot?

CaptHenway

Interesting.

Do you have multiple pieces from this die?

Back then mint marks were hand punched into working dies using a steel rod with a letter at the end and a mallet. It is not impossible that somebody at the mint changed the mint mark on a die for some unknown reason, perhaps because they needed to make some more coins for collector sets or bags and they had already used up all previously made P-mint dies.

However, it is not a slam dunk. The heavy die erosion seen in the fields suggests that the extra mark could possibly be die erosion. I am not saying that that is what it is. I am saying that you need another opinion from somebody like Bill Fivaz, co-author of the Cherrypicker's Guide.

TD.

Bodin

I'll post some full coin pics in a little bit

CaptHenway

Could we please see a few straight on (not tilted) shots where you leave the lighting the same and turn the coin 45 degrees and then 90 degrees between shots?

Bodin

I'll have it up in about 30 min.

kranky

Does the S seem too small in comparison to the P mintmark, even allowing for die erosion/polishing?

crazyhounddog

Looks like a chip in the die to me..

Bodin

<< <i>..........

Any chance of a whole coin shot? >>



You got it

CaptHenway

I am in the "possible" camp. Definitely worthy of further study.

Smittys

<< <i>I am in the "possible" camp. Definitely worthy of further study. >>

Bodin

<< <i>Does the S seem too small in comparison to the P mintmark, even allowing for die erosion/polishing? >>



Yeah, I guess this is the elephant in the room

19Lyds

Send it to James Wiles at CONECA for further examination Charlie!

WoodenJefferson

At present, die chip...I just think it's not proportional (too small) to be an actual 'S' mint mark. Thinking out loud, knee jerk reaction.

cmerlo1

I'm in the die chip crowd.

ModCrewman

<< <i>I'm in the die chip crowd. >>

Ditto.

But not disagreeing with the Captain's opinion of it being worthy of more examination.

TwoSides2aCoin

I don't think so but am about 95% sure that I could be completely wrong.

Christos

Boden that needs to be looked at as the current condition could be due to die polishing not just die erosion. I personally am seeing some shape to the area in question and most die chips look like little blobs. Your images are fantastic and I look forward to seeing what you find out.

CaptHenway

<< <i>At present, die chip...I just think it's not proportional (too small) to be an actual 'S' mint mark. Thinking out loud, knee jerk reaction. >>



Just to play devil's advocate, when the "P" was punched in, the metal displaced by the "P" punch could have partially collapsed an earlier "S." Or, if an "S" were ground down prior to a "P" being punched in, only the deepest part of the "S" might have remained and that, because of the tapering and/or rounding at the end of the punch, would have a smaller footprint than a normal "S." Or possibly a combination of these two factors plus other unknown factors. Or it could just be a die chip. We don't know yet.

Bodin

<< <i>Boden that needs to be looked at as the current condition could be due to die polishing not just die erosion. I personally am seeing some shape to the area in question and most die chips look like little blobs. Your images are fantastic and I look forward to seeing what you find out. >>



Thank you for the nice words and for your thoughts. I have a few options of who to send some of these to. Will keep you guys posted.

sparky64

In some of the pics it just looks too shapely to be a chip, imho.
I was thinking along the lines of Captains last scenario.

Very interesting either way. Look forward to hearing more.

ricko

The new pictures make me think die chip... but the first one's sure look like the remnants of an 'S'... Cheers, RickO

tahoe98

I pulled 30+ of these from the bag.

...I find that quite interesting...