Lincoln's best year for beard detail
I noticed a 1919 cent in another thread and it had the best detailing of the beard I've seen. So I'm wondering which year had the finest detailing of the beard. I know for strike its the 68 but the beard is not an eye catcher for that year.
Need something designed and 3D printed?
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after seeing stewart blays 1919...if i recall....it even landed in a ms69 holder too
i'd be hard pressed to change my mind on finer
truly though 1916 matte proofs are right upthere
maybe stewart will drop in and post it
<< <i>I noticed a 1919 cent in another thread and it had the best detailing of the beard I've seen. So I'm wondering which year had the finest detailing of the beard. I know for strike its the 68 but the beard is not an eye catcher for that year. >>
1968? Did you mean worst detailing?
The mint made new master dies in 1969 as they were really showing their age through the 50's and especially the 60's, with obviously 68 being the worst year for the strike. I have never seen any Lincoln from the 30's, 40's, 50's, or 60's with enough detail to even be able to tell Abe ever had a beard!
The 1919 was really spectacular for some reason, as I'm sure they didn't redo the master dies for 1919. Teddy is also spot on as the masters were touched up in 1915, and fully reworked to an even finer detail for 1916, although with a matte proof mintage of a few hundred or so coins, I would fully expect the dies to retain all of their detail. It would be very odd to see any mate proof without beard detail better than the best business strikes.
Here is Stewart's 1919 graded MS69RD.
And, Stewart's 1916 MS67RD
Lincoln set Colorless Set
- Bob -

MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
It looks like high grade from the teens is it. Don't know why it never caught my eye till that 1919 of Stewart's but it did.
I don't have a picture.
Ron
1919 is the best year for this detail.
(Change in die.)
peacockcoins
<< <i>I agree.
1919 is the best year for this detail.
(Change in die.)
ok i've seen some thick rims but what's up there braddick...your 1919...was it struck on a foreign???...out of collar??? why just one side????
"LUCY GOT SUM SPLAININ TO DO HERE"
CC
no one going to mention the rim on braddick's 1919????
<< <i>hmmm
no one going to mention the rim on braddick's 1919???? >>
An anomaly not worth mentioning.
Hair on the neck, ears, and everywhere else.
and it's not a 1919.
Garrow
<< <i>hmmm
no one going to mention the rim on braddick's 1919???? >>
It looks like a partial collar strike.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
...wasn't the 2009 in the running too? weren't they changed that year to be very close to the 1909 original which wasn't a bad beard likeness also
<< <i>
<< <i>hmmm
no one going to mention the rim on braddick's 1919???? >>
It looks like a partial collar strike. >>
peacockcoins
And here's a 1914 that's about the best struck I've ever seen for that date:
Empty Nest Collection
<< <i>I agree.
1919 is the best year for this detail.
(Change in die) >>
What do you mean by 'change in die'? The master dies were new in 1909, refined in 1916, and then new masters were
made in 1969. This is supported by every Lincoln cent reference book that I have. In 1919 the master dies would have
been in use for four years and would be losing a little bit of detail with every working die produced. It would certainly
seem that 1919 should have less detail than a 1916, all else being equal.
Lincoln set Colorless Set
Tha 1916 may not be as well struck as the 1919, but the 1916 has strands of hair in the beard, truer to VDB's intended
design, while the beard on the 1919 has more of a pockmarked appearance, which goes to show that the 1919 has lost
detail of the original design.
And I LOVE that 1914 reno, very tasty!!
Lincoln set Colorless Set
Jim
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
<< <i>I'm not a Lincoln Cent collector but I do have a few. This struck me as a funny topic. Imagine for a moment, a non-coin collector coming across this thread...I wonder what they would think.
Yes, because the sharing of information on Lincoln cents is so much more laughable than the sharing of information on mercury dime varieties, right? Excellent contribution!
Lincoln set Colorless Set
<< <i>I'm not a Lincoln Cent collector but I do have a few. This struck me as a funny topic. Imagine for a moment, a non-coin collector coming across this thread...I wonder what they would think.
I'm not either but that beard on the 69 just grabbed me. Now it all I look at in the series.
<< <i>
<< <i>I'm not a Lincoln Cent collector but I do have a few. This struck me as a funny topic. Imagine for a moment, a non-coin collector coming across this thread...I wonder what they would think.
Yes, because the sharing of information on Lincoln cents is so much more laughable than the sharing of information on mercury dime varieties, right? Excellent contribution! >>
Geez, you are really taking this the wrong way and I'm sorry for that. Mercury Dime Varieties can be more ridiculous in many ways and I was NOT putting ANYONE down by any stretch of the imagination. For some reason this thread made me laugh...looking at beard detail. As a coin collector, I know and understand what you are talking about and I appreciate it...but for a moment I stepped out of my shoes to those of a non-collector and it sounded funny to me. That's all. A light-hearted little laugh is what I got. I like Lincoln Cents just fine and am not putting anyone down or making fun. You took this the wrong way.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Ain't the internet great? So much lost without inflection and intonation.
Now back to those geeky mercuries!
Lincoln set Colorless Set
<< <i>Look at Stewart's two coins I posted above.
Tha 1916 may not be as well struck as the 1919, but the 1916 has strands of hair in the beard, truer to VDB's intended
design, while the beard on the 1919 has more of a pockmarked appearance, which goes to show that the 1919 has lost
detail of the original design.
And I LOVE that 1914 reno, very tasty!! >>
Thanks for the props, 66RB.
I agree with you that Stewart's 1919 has less beard detail than those of 1914, '15, '16; and the issue only became worse through the twenties. And then sometime around 1930, the beard detail seemed to go away entirely, favoring an almost completely smooth appearance. Seems it stayed that way until the mid '80's, when the die was revised to show the strands again, but with a more "spaghetti" like appearance that I for one dislike.
Back to the early dates, the beard and ear detail on the proofs started improving after 1910, but didn't really start to shine until about 1915. What's funny is that looking at my 1909 proofs, including the VDB, it would seem that beard and ear detail wasn't considered all that important, favoring more of an overall artistic look. It's fun to look at the series of early Lincoln proofs as a work in progress as changes in detail abound. The 1910's really stand out in terms of shoulder jacket detail. In 1913 the eye socket was reworked and even tweaked further in subsequent years. And what's interesting about those observations is that the changes aren't at all permanent. I mean, why would the shoulder detail stand out in 1910, but not so much in later years? Why would the eye socket change dramatically in 1913, and then be just a little different each year until 1916, when it actually looks a lot like the eyes of 1909 with just a little cut for the crow's feet? It's just a fascinating study when you realize that these designs were so heavily sweated over each year to produce the "ideal", when these days changes are so few and far between, and only seem to trend farther away from artistic perfection.
Empty Nest Collection
<< <i>Here is a pretty cool closeup of three 1916's that were all on my desk once. The last one is Bob's PR67BN above:
And here's a 1914 that's about the best struck I've ever seen for that date:
Pretty pieces. When I get to adding a Lincoln cent to my box of twenty, it will have to have a well struck beard.