Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 8/29/2006

Question
Hello! My boyfriend has a penny that is not a complete circle. It looks kinda like a sidewas 8 and the printing on it is all smudged. Would that be worth something? If you don't know, do you know how I can find out?
Thank you,
Heather

Answer
Sorry, Heather, not sure what this is.  My guess is that someone took a hammer or other tool to a cent and deformed it.  Keep in mind that there are millions of little boys out there (and a few men too) that like to experiment with things, and cents are quite handy (and cheap).  To be sure, you'd have to show it to an expert at a coin shop (go to www.google.com and do a search to see where the nearest one is to you) or at a coin show.  Hope this helped, Jim Lawniczak