Expert: PAPAJACK - 11/28/2006

Question
Hello,
I just came across a wheat penny that doesn't appear to have a year stamped on the front.  In examining it, the penny doesn't appear to have ever had a year stamped on it and it doesn't appear to have the year scrathed off.  I was wondering if this was a common event and if so about what year was this common in?  Is this a rare event that increases the value of the coin or is this just a freak accident that doesn't change the value at all?

Thank you
Bill

Answer
Hello Bill,   

This would have had to be an accident if it happened at the mint.
The Date and Mint Mark were put on the working dies, when the die strikes the coin blank it would make every one the same.

Missing dates and letters are usually caused by a filled die error.
Grease and debris commonly get caught in the recesses of the dies as they produce coins. When the dies close on the blank the portion of the die filled with this debris won’t let the metal flow into it.
These coins are common with weak or altogether missing features. The price you may get for them over the face value depends on what an error collector may pay for the particular coin.
Error collecting is a branch outside of coins collecting. There is no fixed pricing on these error coins published and each one would have to be seen to be evaluated.

Please remember to rate this answer at the bottom of this page. And check the nomination box on the rating page below any comments you may have.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack