Expert: PAPAJACK - 7/24/2007

Question
I have a 1955 penny that has a chunk of copper in the 3rd number of the date.  No other part of the coin has been affected on the front or back.  Is it possible that a bit of copper was in the die when this coin was struck?  Have you seen this before?

Thanks!

Answer
Hello Kaitlyn,                    

I have not seen exactly what you describe on the date. I have seen excess material matted down on the coin design though.
It is not uncommon to have even foreign substances like string, cloth or even a piece of wire pressed into the surface of a coin.
In this case it does not have much added value since the error was random. It would sell for less than a dollar.

I do want you to get a magnifier and examine the coin a bit closer.  There is a 1955 One Cent coin with a die error where all the digits in the date and the legend is fully doubled as well. It is a valuable and sought after error coin.
There are people who try to make normal 1955 cents look like the error by defacing the date as well.

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Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack