So yesterday I was walking to the employee lounge I found this cent lying in the Coinstar return tray.
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| A full view of the coin |
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| A close up shot I took of the date. This is the max that my camera can zoom in sadly :/ |
This is a 1970 S U.S. cent! It is one of the unusual coins in the Lincoln cent collection that has two significant variations which are considered separate coins. There is the more common "Large Date" cent with the numbers forming the date being of equal size and then there is the much rarer "Small Date" where the numbers in the date are different sizes (most recognizable the 7). The Small Date variation goes for up to a premium of $20 in mint condition! It probably would go for more if the variations were more noticeable, as it is even experienced collectors have trouble differentiating the two types of this cent. To try and correctly identify my cent I went on to a site called The Lincoln Cent Resource and looked up my coin and its varieties.
After five minutes with a jeweler's lens I found that this coin is a "Large Date" variety. All of the letters in the word "LIBERTY" are clearly defined and well struck. In addition the inner curve of the 9 points towards the mint-mark rather than the 7. Both of these features are classic examples of a "Large Date" 1970 S, which is worth about $0.10 or so in the condition I have it in. Usually people will pay a dollar or two extra for a better quality one. So my chances of selling this one are basically nil. After further research I discovered that 1970 S large dates are one of the cents that have a known doubled die example! Not for this one but I will have to keep my eyes open for the future 1970 S cents I come across!
Oh well! It was a fun experience and I do not regret it! If any of you know for certain what this coin is please let me know in the comments!
Have a great weekend and Happy Collecting everyone!
- Sean
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