Lincoln Cent 1920-D Striking Issues
hbarbee
Posts: 199 ✭✭✭✭
Please comment on what would have been happening to the dies to result in the anomalies seen on this coin. Also what grade do you think it should earn at PCGS?
Thanks,
Hurst
2
Comments
I was actually just about to post a thread on several Lincoln Cents I have from the 20s and branch mints. Lincoln Cents and Buffalo Nickels from the teens and twenties with mint mark are notorious for horrible strike quality. Looks like you do have a Mint State coin there... even if the details don’t look like it.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
Looks like worn dies.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
It does look like Mint State, though the dies are just about terminal. I would be very worried that the two scratches on the reverse under OF and through the left stalk into the rim would push the coin into a details holder, they look relatively fresh. Absent those I could see it as 63 or 64 if the luster is nice.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
Looks like the dies that struck this coin had struck many before. I would guess 64 red for a grade, though I would pass on a poorly struck coin like this one. Here is a pic of a well struck 21. Maybe the branch mints were sent too few dies and overused them?
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Dies worked over time. Very nice coin though!
Over used dies. Too bad because the coin, aside from the soft appearance, looks good. Grading coins like this is difficult. If they give it a grade based on surfaces without taking the poor strike into consideration the coin will likely sit unsold for a very long time. The soft strike is a big negative even though it is very common on branch mint cents from the 1920's.
I will go with the flow-very worn dies.
There are better coins available. While many were made like this, with some searching you will be able to find a coin struck with decent dies. While this coin might merit a technical grade of MS-63 or so, there are much better strikes in the same grade for the same money. Look further.
I am writing a small book about the Cents struck in Denver in 1922. They are commonly found struck from badly deteriorated dies. Here is an excerpt from the chapter where I discuss the dies used in 1922:
"These dies received heavy use out of necessity, but the Coining Department may have had some good reason to expect them to hold up to that use. The Denver Mint’s Record of One Cent Coinage Dies for 1920 had shown amazing die durability in the earliest part of that year, with pieces struck per die often hitting (in rounded numbers) 500,000 or 600,000 coins per die, and one stalwart obverse being credited with 850,000 strikes!
However, something drastic then (apparently) happened to the quality of the die steel used for cents throughout the rest of 1920. I would guess that a very bad batch of die steel was received from the Mint’s supplier, though I suppose that we must allow for the remote possibility that the people at the Philadelphia Mint’s die shop responsible for competently hardening dies either died or retired.
(As yet another possible consideration, the 1920 Mint Report mentions the very heavy demand upon the die shop for dies for military decorations and other items related to World War One. Though the actual stamping of the decorations was typically done by private mints, the U.S. Mint had to make the dies for them. This could have affected the processing of coinage dies.)
According to the Denver die register, reports of cent strikes per die in the 140,000 to 160,000 range were common for the rest of 1920, with a few as low as 120,000. The last obverse used in 1920 only struck just over 110,000 coins, but that may have been just because production ceased for other, ordinary reasons."
Copyright 2021 by Tom DeLorey. All rights reserved.
I would like to use your pictures of your 1920-D cent to illustrate the problem with the cent dies. Would you please contact me at the email in my profile to discuss this?
TD
The rev also looks like some type of PIDT going on or some clash or greasy ghost.
Very worn dies as stated above. Not the coin I would use to fill my normal strong strike preference. I actually like the look of this coin as an example of extreme die wear. I think it would look good in a 62RD holder.
I couldn't help but post this 1920-D struck from newer dies
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
Ok, I'll be contrary. I like it- it has character.
Gorgeous!
Some dies were not properly stress hardened before use. Dies were shipped to the branch mints without being annealed (stress hardened) before use.
This was done so that if a die was stolen, it would not be able to produce a high number of coins before wearing out.
Seems like San Francisco and Denver didn't properly prepare dies for use. To make it worse, with only a limited supply of dies and quotas to achieve, they were overused.
The OP 1920-D should grade 63RD. IMHOP.
Pete
Die fatigue. They just melt - Nice RD color on that coin BTW - I have noticed that die fatigue struck coins tend to not oxidize. I would love for a metallurgist to opine as - why.
I like the OP's coin as a 64RD.
One of the best I've seen. Have admired this coin when you started showing it.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
I appreciate all of your comments. I purchased this coin off of Ebay at a good price. It is in a new PCGS holder at MS64RD and even has a TrueView image. I wanted it primarily as an excellent example of the extremely worn dies used in the 20's. Also for the fact that it really has nice eye appeal in its own way and can still garner an MS64 grade. Normally I do go for sharp strikes and no toning, but this will be the exception.
I think you have a great example of extremely worn dies. I found it interesting how the letters in the center of the reverse are nice and sharp but they fade to mushy.
A factor of the metal flow during the strike. During the instant of the strike the metal under Lincoln's head is drawn up into the head, so there is little or no outwards expansion of the planchet in that area. Thus there is little or no outwards expansion across the surface of the reverse die in this area. Once you get out beyond the outline of the head, you have greater pressure on the reverse die (because the two dies are closer together there) and you have outwards expansion there.
Who knows, may even be the same die.
Not a 1920-D, this 1919-D has a similar look due to worn dies. This graded 64+. Your 1920-D would probably receive a similar grade. I actually love the look of lustrous, shiny worn die Lincoln’s.
There is more luster that what is shown in the TrueView.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
That is an amazing piece. May I have permission to use it alongside the OP’s coin in my introduction?
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Certainly.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
That is a great example of extremely worn dies.... Glad to see that it slabbed at our hosts. Cheers, RickO
A little off topic but here's my '19D that shows a few die cracks. Have to wonder how many more coins it made afterwards.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown