1984 Lincoln with strange mark

Senlathiel · November 16, 2003 11:32AM

My son and I were going through some rolls of circulated change to fill up a coin album when we found this 1984-D Lincoln cent. I almost set it aside because of what looked like a scratch going through Lincoln's chest. On closer expection, however, we found the "scratch" doesn't dig into the coin, but is raised over its surface. (Attatchment #1) You can see that this mark not only goes through Lincoln and faintly appears on the rim, but there is also a bump in the coin just above the date (seen best in Attatchment #2). Our best guess is that there was a scratch in the die, but I thought you guys might have more information on this. What is it?

goose3 · November 16, 2003 11:33AM

die break

Senlathiel · November 16, 2003 11:37AM

Cool, any value to this coin? Besides 1 cent.

I think I'll save it for its coolness factor.

goose3 · November 16, 2003 11:41AM

if a die break is correct then I would have to say it wouldn't add much value to it unless it was an extremely large one.
Hang onto it though. You don't see them everyday.

Cam40 · November 16, 2003 11:41AM

Its akin to bubbles on these clad Lincolns. Its a somewhat common error, if you could call it that.

Not all are shaped round as a bubble is but do appear as raised lines.

Cam40 · November 16, 2003 11:43AM

I save the cool ones too.

Dog97 · November 16, 2003 12:08PM

I'll put my $$ on it being a die scratch or small gouge.

LincolnCentMan · November 16, 2003 2:11PM

I think it might be a little to straight and geometric for a die brake. It's looks like a die scratch to me.

David

Conder101 · November 17, 2003 10:38AM

I'm with Cam40, bubble in the plating.

grip · November 17, 2003 10:51AM

To me it looks like the identical mark the SBA had on the reverse of the eagle's breast...(arrow)?I dont remember the date...die break.Al

coppercoins · November 17, 2003 11:35AM

That's all it is, a bubble in the plating. It's not a die defect, it's a simple coin defect, and it happened to millions of them.

cladking · November 17, 2003 11:37AM

Die breaks are almost always between a deep design feature and the rim or another
deep feature. They also tend to be radial or define radial sections. Additionally they
will be well defined at least on the sides if not on top.

Bubble seems to be the best guess and I have seen them before. They are likely caused
by a contaminant spread on the strip before blanking which causes poor adherance of
the plating in some way.

This is mostly a guess since a die scratch can't easily be ruled out withot a closer inspection.
The apparent mark on the edge would tend to support Dog97's opinion.

coppercoins · November 17, 2003 11:44AM

It's too soft to be a scratch. I've seen thousands of these things...it's a plating bubble. Some have different shapes and some are in different places, but that's all it is.

XpipedreamR · November 17, 2003 11:49AM

Looks like a bubble to me.

1984 Lincoln with strange mark

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