Is it my imagination?

[mwaynebennett]

I have noticed for many many years, at least I think I notice, that pennies and nickles with a 1964 date seem to have more pronounced rims along their edges. Have any of you noticed that? Other dates have a smaller and not-as-high a ridge around the edge.

Mark

 

[505ranger]

Hello mwaynebennett
The American one cent coin is probably the most changed coin in our coin history. The penney is the first American coin to display the bust of a president. In 1909- 2 - pennies were minted the 1909 indian head and the 1909 Lincoln cent with the wheat reverse. This was a Victor David Brenner design (thus the v.d.b.) cent, The wheat was changed to the Mememorial reverse in1959 and is a Frank Gasparo design.This reverse was used until 2009.
The obverse of the Lincoln cent has undergone many subtle changes over the years. Every decade starting in 1959 will have changes to the dies that strike them and with mint coin designers changeing ,as some retire or pass away, the new designers will change the dies a little bit. Sort of like their own personal touch. As the dies change or start to wear out the pennies take on the charicteristictics of the Changes and the die wear .During the 80;s there was alot of die polishing done and if you look at pennies from this decade you will see the scratches left by the polishing proceedure ,(you will need at least 15x magnification to really see this clearly); The 1983-p doubled die reverse is a popular example of die neglect and the 1984-p- doubled ear obverse is another example.both considerd errors. Again in the 90;s you will see slight changes to the bust and the reverse lettering ( United StatesOf America )1998 +1999 -p far am in America ,are considered an error, or a die variety as the A&M IN AMERICA should be close. the close AM in America was introduced in 1993 and prior to that there was a space between the A&M in America then again in 2000,2001 and2002 The obverse and reverse and the rims are very weak. Also there is a 2000-p wide A M in America, this is also considered an error or a die variety. The biggest change how ever was the 2009 a series of four different reverses,from all three mints.to commemerate the 100th anneversery of the Lincoln cent. And finnally the biggest change was in 2010 when the mint decided to return to the 1909 obverse and the liberty sheild reverse ,The reverse being designed by two different engravers, I can:t remember their names right now but their initials are L.B, on the left and J.F.M. on the right. (This design is supposed to run for the next 50 years) ( The same is also true of the 2009 serieis to many engravers involed for me to remember right now as just about every reverse was designed by one to two engravers ).Last but not least was the wartime pennies 1941-1945.Some of these were made from bullett brass( 1944) as there was a copper shortage due to the war. The 1943 p,d,& s were zinc coated steel. So the differences you see are from a combination of engraving ,die alterations and die wear. the striking machiery used and the metalurgic composition of the coin 95%copper until 1982 when 8 different types and metal compositions and die changes were used. This includes all the respective mints involved ,and in 1983, when the 95%zinc penny was conceived to save money as the price of copper made it imppossible to make a one cent coin for one cent ,and that is still true today evan though they are now zincs they cost about 1.5 cents to produce. Nickles are a story for another day But the story is about the same. I almost left this out some one cent coins have what are called small date & large date 1970-s & 1960-p &d. I hope this helps some. Happy Huntin
505ranger.
Kevin.Baltimore,MD. I don:t know how i posted this twice but sorrrrry bout that

 

[505ranger]

skip this post and read the post above, some how i managed to post this 3 times and i don:t know how to delete the first and third versions, Thanks ranger
Hello mwaynebennett
The American one cent coin is probably the most changed coin in our coin history. The penney is the first American coin to display the bust of a president. In 1909- 2 - pennies were minted the 1909 indian head and the 1909 Lincoln cent with the wheat reverse. This was a Victor David Brenner design (thus the v.d.b.) cent, The wheat was changed to the Mememorial reverse in1959 and is a Frank Gasparo design.This reverse was used until 2009.
The obverse of the Lincoln cent has undergone many subtle changes over the years. Every decade starting in 1959 will have changes to the dies that strike them and with mint coin designers changeing ,as some retire or pass away, the new designers will change the dies a little bit. Sort of like their own personal touch. As the dies change or start to wear out the pennies take on the charicteristictics of the Changes and the die wear .During the 80;s there was alot of die polishing done and if you look at pennies from this decade you will see the scratches left by the polishing proceedure ,(you will need at least 15x magnification to really see this clearly); The 1983-p doubled die reverse is a popular example of die neglect and the 1984-p- doubled ear obverse is another example.both considerd errors. Again in the 90;s you will see slight changes to the bust and the reverse lettering ( United StatesOf America )1998 +1999 -p far am in America ,are considered an error, or a die variety as the A&M IN AMERICA should be close. the close AM in America was introduced in 1993 and prior to that there was a space between the A&M in America then again in 2000,2001 and2002 The obverse and reverse and the rims are very weak. Also there is a 2000-p wide A M in America, this is also considered an error or a die variety. The biggest change how ever was the 2009 a series of four different reverses,from all three mints.to commemerate the 100th anneversery of the Lincoln cent. And finnally the biggest change was in 2010 when the mint decided to return to the 1909 obverse and the liberty sheild reverse ,The reverse being designed by two different engravers, I can:t remember their names right now but their initials are L.B, on the left and J.F.M. on the right. (This design is supposed to run for the next 50 years) ( The same is also true of the 2009 serieis to many engravers involed for me to remember right now as just about every reverse was designed by one to two engravers ).Last but not least was the wartime pennies 1941-1945.Some of these were made from bullett brass( 1944) as there was a copper shortage due to the war. The 1943 p,d,& s were zinc coated steel. So the differences you see are from a combination of engraving ,die alterations and die wear. the striking machiery used and the metalurgic composition of the coin 95%copper until 1982 when 8 different types and metal compositions and die changes were used. This includes all the respective mints involved ,and in 1983, when the 95%zinc penny was conceived to save money as the price of copper made it imppossible to make a one cent coin for one cent ,and that is still true today evan though they are now zincs they cost about 1.5 cents to produce. Nickles are a story for another day But the story is about the same. I almost left this out some one cent coins have what are called small date & large date 1970-s & 1960-p &d. I hope this helps some. Happy Huntin
505ranger.
Kevin.Baltimore,MD. I don:t know how i posted this twice but sorrrrry bout that

 

[mwaynebennett]

Hi Kevin:

Thanks for all the info.

Is the 1791 large cent not a US coin?

http://www.coins.nd.edu/WashToken/WashTokenText/1791.html

Mark

 

[505ranger]

Hello myaynebennett
the 1791 large cents that are shown on the link you provided are what are considered Post colonial issue coinage /. So the info is accurate .
The first U.S. large cent was struck in 1793 it has a flowing hair bust obverse and a chain reveres,prior to congress establishing the first U.S. mint in Philadelphia; most coinage was either struck in the induvidual colonies/ or states , So the answer to your question is yes it would still be considered U.S. coinage as it is post colonial not colonial coinage. Colonial coinage in most cases was imported from Great Britian, as a currency that was acceptible to the coloneis and the British but early American coinage and its origins is quit confussing . So after the war of independence(1776) ended Ben Franklin convinced the Congress to establish the U.S. mint so there would be a uniformity to U.S.coinage I hope this helps you out a little.
Happy Huntin ranger
Kevin Balto.MD.
p.s last evening I started to clean up some coins I had soaking in soapy water since 11-01--2011 and I went to put what I thought was a Quarter into the pile of cleaned coins and I noticed that it had Elizibeth II on the obverse, it turned out to be a 1990 two pence it looks like it's made of copper so that is probibly why my time ranger picked it up as a coin. I don"t know any thing about foreighn coinage so if someone can help me out i sure could use the help.
In the meantime I will try to post a picture of the coin on a seperate post

 

[505ranger]

Hi mywaynebennett
It"s the ranger again, I guess you were asking me about the 1791 large cent being a U.S.; coin is, because the obverse of the coin has the bust of George Washington; who was the first American President.who served from1789-1797.
With that being said the difference between post colonial coins and U.S. Currency is that post colonial coinage was more of a token that commemorated some great person or event of the times, and was usually made by a jeweler or artisan, that was commissioned to make the coinage. there were three coppers made in 1791 -2-large cents and -1-half penny all three depicted George Washington on the obverse and were accepted as money for goods or services provided by local vendors. These particular issues were not what would be considered official U.S. currency.and probably could not be found in all of the colonies,some were probably counterfeit and there was no standard or uniformity to the width diameter,weight.or the metelurgic content Thus the esablishment of the U.S. mint in Philidelphia now It takes both houses of Congress and the President of the U.S. to enact the striking of official U.S.currency, The reason i:m adding this info to the post of yesterday is I am assuming that your question about the 1791 large cent being a U.S. coin is because in my post about one cent coins I stated that Lincoln was the first president to be srtuck on a U.S. coin. the 1791 large cent is not an official U.S. coin as it was not commissined by congressional act, but the Lincoln cent was.After the establishment of the U.S. mint it took an act of Congress and the signituere of the sitting President to coin money or to make any real changes to the existing coinage and /or paper currency(money). It took all of the afore mentioned and the signiture of President Theodore Roosevelt to add IN GOD WE TRUST to our currency
I hope this clears up any confussion that I may have caused you or the members of the forum.
Thanks& Happy Huntin
505ranger
Kevin. Balto. MD.

 

[mwaynebennett]

Thanks for the info.

Along those lines but totally different, do you know who was the only living person to be depicted on a US postage stamp?

Mark

 

[505ranger]

Hello mywaynebennett (MARK)
No I sure don:t but it would be interesting to know .I really don:t know much about stamps but did you know that postage is one of the only real enumerated powers given to Congress by the Constitution.?
any way found some more info on the post colonial large cent (1791) depicting George Washington. some of these peices were also imported from England .any way let me know about that stamp.
Good hearing from you.
ranger
Happy Huntin
Kevin

 

[mwaynebennett]

Neil Armstrong. It was the stamp to commemorate the first man on the moon. Although the stamp did not show Neil Armstrong's face, it was still a depiction of him, the only case that I know of of a living person on a US postage stamp.

Mark

 

[505ranger]

Hi Mark
Yes; I guess it would be hard to see him in his space suit .
But that is a pretty neat fact, I would not even have ventured a guess at that one.
Would:nt it be pretty cool to find the plate they used to print a stamp with a detector. Any way good haerin from ya, keep up the good finds and cool information.
Until next time. Good Luck & Happy Huntin
505ranger
Kevin