Expert: Dan Moore - 2/12/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have a Lincoln penny that appears to be double stamped. However, one side bears the date of 1964, and the other side bears the date 1971 backwards.  This penny has a Lincoln portrait and a Lincoln Memorial on both sides, but one faces the right direction and the other faces the wrong direction . . . thus the printing is in reverse. Is this at all possible? My husband said it almost appears as if someone working at the mint (in 1971) took a 1964 penny out of their pocket and deliberately stamped it at a 90 degree angle with the 1971 mint, but on the opposing side of what a real coin would be.  Does this make sense?

ANSWER: Brenda,

Your husband's close -- except it's very unlikely it happened at the mint.  More likely, somebody with access to a press put 3 coins together and squished them in the press, causing the backwards images to be transfered from one coin to another.

Considered an altered coin, it has no collector value.

Dan


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If that was the case, then I wouldn't think both images would be raised.  It seems at least one image would be more of an impression, but it isn't.

Answer
Perhaps I'm not clear what you have, but for the lettering & images to be backwards, they cannot have come from a coin die -- they would have to be transferred from another coin.  So if your coin's backwards images are raised, then whatever happened to it was a much more complicated process.

You can send pictures to me at working.man@usa.net if you want.

Dan