Expert: Ronald Fern - 1/25/2011

Question
Hey,
 Today I decided to start collecting my
Change, I went out and bought "a guide book of united states coins" I got into about 30 pennies. Looked it up and it appears I have a 1992d close AM. I've compared it to many other 1992d's. The A and M seem to be touching at the bottom of the A and M. Also, the FG seem further apart from the building. Is there any other way to tell If it's an actual close AM? Also, should I try to clean it up a little or just let it be? Like I said. This is my first day doing this. Don't really know where to go from here.

Thanks,
Derek

Answer
Hi Derek:

Thanks for your question. Never clean a coin. You could destroy it's value.

I found several Internet references on the 1992 close AM variety cents.
See: http://numismaticnews.net/article/No_longer_unique_Second_Close_AM_1992_cent_fou... or http://lincolncentresource.com/Featured/1992DcloseAM.html

The 1992 Close AM Lincoln Cent is a transitional variety of the Lincoln Cent series. Beginning in 1993, the United States Mint sharpened certain details of the reverse design of the coin. Most noticeably, the letters "AM" from "AMERICA" were placed close together. A small number of 1992 Lincoln Cents were apparently struck with the new reverse die.
The "Close AM" variety can be identified by the lack of space between the letters. The designer's initial "FG" will be further away from the Memorial building. For the "Wide AM" version, the letters will have a visible space between and the initials "FG" will appear close to the building.

There have been a number of 1992-D "Close AM" Lincoln Cents identified, but only three 1992 (Philadelphia Mint) coins have been found. As such, these coins are considered a major rarity.

Despite the switch to the new reverse type for circulating coins, the old design remained in use for proof coins. In the late 1990's, several circulation strike Lincoln Cents were created using proof reverse dies. These are also rare and bring premiums, but not as much as the 1992 transitional variety.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.