Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Off center penny

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Expert: - 10/20/2009


Question
I have a penny that was struck off-center.  Approx. 60-70% off-center.  On head side you can see Lincolns head and God We Trust.  No date.  On obverse One Cent and part of memorial are visible.  Wondering about value of this coin.  Thank You.

Answer
Hi Jeff,
Sounds like a nice dramatic error. If the coin is in mint condition the auction range will be from $15 to $25 for a dateless memorial back cent. These are much harder to find with dates intact, and such an example will be about double the price. Brown, circulated cents still have a value close to that of the mint condition example, at least for the later memorial cents.
This is one of the more common errors, and there are plenty of examples in the auction record. If you have an eBay account, try doing a "Completed Items" search and you will likely find a nearly identical one for comparison.
Thanks for the question! =)

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Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

Experience

Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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