Where did 1964 special State pennies come from.

Togothree

Who made them and why.

Togothree

I apologize to you. My question is about the 1964 special strike penny less than 50 of them where made I've done research on them. I Googled the information. They are very rare and most coin collectors haven't even heard of them less than 50 were made. I just wondered if I could get more information about them from someone that knows about them.

DCW

1964 SMS coins (1c,5c,10c,25c,50c) were minted with a special finish. Some believe that they were prototypes for the true Special Mint Sets that came to be in 1965. As I recall they were all found in the estate of Eva Adams, former Mint Director and were sold off in the 90s by dealer Lester Merken. It would have been a good idea to buy them back then, as an example today probably runs you 10x of the sale price.
There are many threads on the topic here. Search 1964 SMS.

TommyType

There were no "State" cents made by the US mint in 1964, or at any other time.

However, I have seen US cents that have had other emblems added to them by private companies to sell as collectors items. In particular, I've seen JFK's profile stamped onto Lincoln cents.

They really don't have any special value today. Most coin collectors would consider them damaged instead of 'special'. But if you like them, no reason not to hang onto them.

A picture or detailed description might help. Maybe someone here has a more in depth knowledge about who created them, and why.