Expert: Dan Moore - 11/2/2011

Question
Thanks for all your advise.I just found a 1909 s with missing
"In God We Trust" I know...most of the time I hear that oh its
just rubbed out its a OLD coin etc.But,Linclons head is placed
so high to the EDGE that one can't Print "In God We Trust"!
Also the L in Liberty is not there.Also,1909 19 is clearly visibl
e and Double hit the other 09 is Shadowey.The S mint mark is
Doubled! How I knew its a S...its the only MINT mark of its time
there was NO D's in 1909.The back of the coin is nice for its
age...Can it be with all these errors that even the VDM is missing
from the back? Have you ever seen or heard of a 1909 s quiet like
this? Did I finally say Merry Christmas...God Bless!

Answer
Mirza,

It sounds like you may possibly have an off-center double-strike error -- I'd love to see a picture of both sides.

There were actually more 1909-S pennies made without the VDB than there were made with it -- so not having the VDB on the back is normal.  There were in total 4 different types of Lincoln pennies minted in 1909 -- both a 1909 and a 1909-S without the VDB, and a 1909 and a 1909-S with the VDB.

If this error is indeed what you have, it will be very rare, and you should definitely consider having it certified by either PCGS or NGC.  I have seen this on other dates, but not yet on a 1909.

I hope this helps,

Dan