Expert: Ronald Fern - 10/13/2009

Question
I have a few error coins which I cannot find on the internet. the 1st is 1994-D double mint mark lincoln cent, I have 2 both have identical doublings on bottom portion of the 'D' the doubling is silver (zinc) there also some slight doubling on the date which is copper in color. the other is a 2001 cent with a zinc exposed tie and lapel which comes to a point between lincoln and 2001. also 1984-D cent with multiple errors, sunk in mint mark, and right portion of memorial missing. are these valuable? THANKS

Answer
Hi Ronald:

The answer has been revised. I was never asked what the errors were or how the errors happened, yet I was given an average rating of 7 for knowledge I provided. Needless to say, I was not happy with the 7 rating. So Ronald, my friend, here's your revised answer.

(1) Doubled mintmarks. The errors on mintmarks have been greatly reduced since the mint started to put them directly on the dies during manufacture rather than adding them afterwards. It's possible your coin has a strike doubling effect rather than an actual doubled mintmark. Strike doubling happens when there is a slight shift in the die during the striking of the planchets. The key to my thinking it's strike doubling is the fact that you state the bottom portion of the D mintmarks is silver (zinc), indicating that the coin's surface has been disturbed and the copper plating broken. Normal repunched mintmarks should have no color change,  This can affect only a portion of the coin, or the entire surface. You can check the error listings for strike doubling in eBay for photos of the coins offered. As far as the doubling on the date, you fail to state if it is flat field doubling, again a strike doubling effect, or that the doubled portion of the date is raised like the rest of the date and lettering. I can't offer an opinion with out the knowledge of what you have. My guess is you have flat field doubling and is it worth little to an error collector.

(2) The 2001 with the zinc exposed on the tie and lapel also sounds like the effect of the striking and not an error.

(3) The 1984D with multiple minor errors, sunk in mint mark (likely die failure)and right  portion of memorial missing is probably a result of a filled die (some mint goop made up of lubricant, dirt and metal shavings) getting onto the die surface. This type of error is repetitive and will happen for as long as the dies are used, the mint operator fails to check the coins being struck and/or the coins inspected pass because the errors are minor and ignored.

None of the coins you describe with minor errors appear to be valuable. Billion's of cents are struck yearly, and there are a number of coins that have these type of effects. See the following link for error terms and definitions. http://conecaonline.org/content/glossary.html

You may also want to check eBay listings under error coins to view examples of minor errors that are offered.

If you want to provide photos of your error coins, I'll revise or add to my answer to you again.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.