Lincoln cents are known well enough to be trusted. They are in jars, appear in old drawers, and frequently are found in the collections of beginners in the form of mixed wheat backs and memorial backs little pieces of art which at a first glance you apparently know what they are all the same.
It is that familiarity which is why some misconceptions remain. Others are based on the obsolete terms, others on the attempts at counterfeits to replicate the appropriate buzzwords, others on the hobby of trying to apply complex histories of minting to a single easy rule of thumb.
1. A doubled coin is simply a double struck coin
The two words are used interchangeably, yet they are used to refer to different activities of the minting process. A doubled die occurs when the working die has its design struck twice, but in wrong alignment with the hub, and results in doubled design features on each coin struck on the working die. A doubled struck coin is a coin that has been struck many times, and the results are generally flattened and interrupted as opposed to clean and repeated detail. The dramatic doubling on the famous 1955 doubled die obverse occurs on the side with the quotations, IN GOD WE TRUST, Liberty and the date, the reverse being normal, and this is an important clue when the coin has an odd appearance is being diagnosed.
2. The famous variety is all 1955 pennies with any sort of doubling
New collectors tend to consider the combination of 1955 and doubling as a match. The famous type is on the point: intense, perfect doubling of the obverse which is not oblique to the naked eye as soon as the eye becomes accustomed to what to aim at. It was discovered late in the afternoon, as Q. David Bowers described the incident: He has also left the practical decision-making of the Mint: The decision was made to destroy the cents which remained in the box, and to issue to circulation the 24,000 or so pieces which were mixed with other cents. The myth still exists since the story remains memorable, yet the identification remains collective to the coin in hand, and not only the date.
3. A 1943 copper cent or a rare coin can be authenticated with a magnet test
The use of magnet testing is helpful, though it is not the end of the job. In 1943, the cent was minted in zinc-coated steel and as such, its genuine ones will cling to a magnet when a true copper error in a cent should not. The fallacy is that most common 1943 steel cent have been copper-plated to resemble the uncommon copper strike; plating will deceive the eye but leave the core material acting like steel. The same point of reference applies to 1944, as well: the rare 1944 steel cent is magnetic, but 1944 copper cents are not.
4. When it appears copper, then it is copper
Color produces an excessive confidence. Steel cents may be toned, stained or plated and the appearance on the surface may be changed without being changed into what the planchet is. Copper cents may be dark or lightened and look like it is. The more adverse custom is to regard color as an indication not the end and to combine visual inspection with simple bodily examinations. In collector education, weight is frequently mentioned in the case of 1943 and 1944 anomalies as magnetism since steel and copper planchetes are different in terms of mass. This myth endures, because copper is easy to observe and counterfeit.
5. Any 1909-S VDB that has an mintmark of S is a key-date winner
There are actually legitimate reasons why the 1909-S VDB is famous: it has the status of a first-year Lincoln cent, a relatively small mintage of 484,000, and the controversy of the initials of Brenner. It will also make it a prime object of change due to its desirability. The most recurring beginner error involves believing that an “S” is present when it is not the style and location of that mintmark that matter. Authentication guides note that the San Francisco mintmark of 19091916 was produced using a single punch and even authentic specimens bear regular characteristics in the “S” such as a small raised dot within the top curve in most specimens. The position of the Mintmark, too, is significant since it was punched by hand, and the locations of the Mintmark were known on the few dies used in 1909.
6. V.D.B. initial are too minute to count.
The point are the first two letters on the 1909-S VDB, so counterfeiters take time to replicate them. Guides on modified letters concentrate on those shapes that the beginner has neglected, like the crossbar of the B, which is at an angle, and the undercarriage of the D, which may seem incorrect on added or re-cut initials. Even amateur traders of comparison photographs tend to inscribe the same sorts of telltales: spacing, alignment, minute details such as the dot between letters. The myth behind it is that micro-details are optional; it is actually the micro-details that give away many of the altered coins.
7. All old wheat pennies are scarce as they are old
Age and scarcity do not mean each other, particularly in a show that spanned decades. The design of Lincoln wheat cent was produced between 1909 and 1958 and the enormous amounts were produced during several years. What may often distinguish a genuinely important coin and an average survivor is a particular type, a coinage mark and die combination that can be identified, or an unusual planchet story or a slit in history. Even the renowned 1955 doubled die has received a reality check by the hands of Dr. Sol Taylor, stating that it is very dramatic but not rare whatsoever. The best thing about collectors is that they should view old as a challenge to see more, not as evidence of rarity.
Lincoln cents pay off in the long run and not in the short run. There is a wealth of real weirdness in the series, some dramatic, some nuanced, and the qualities that make it thrilling, also make it misunderstood. Once the beginner myths have fallen the rest is easy: prove how a coin was struck, see the particular marks that must be on that issue, and allow the details, instead of the narrative with the date on them, to do the identification.
