1931 P Lincoln Cent With Shadow, What Causes This?

Thank you all for your inputs, its truly exciting to hear the experts exchange thoughts about this oddball. Regardless of the outcome its been a great experience for me and my family. I actually held this coin over a decade now. Never really knew for certain if it was a genuine error but I always put oddball looking coins aside. I have over 8 full tubes of oddball Wheats now, mostly are Lamination examples, a few really neat looking and many I re-examine now and try to figure out why I set them aside! Its the worlds greatest hobby, thanks for sharing your wisdom I'll gladly absorb it with glee.

I now have the 1931 cent. Those who expressed doubts about this specimen were entirely warranted in their suspicions. The coin was indeed struck with a false (counterfeit) obverse die. There were either several strikes or the counterfeit die itself bore several impressions. On the left side of the reverse, opposite the stronger accessory images, the surface of the coin is flattened, warped, and scraped. While this outcome was disappointing, it is not surprising. Genuine one-sided rotational double strikes are very rare and vastly outnumbered by fakes.

Thank you everyone, your input is greatly valued, a special thanks to Mike for taking a second look. The world of error coins is so vast and my knowledge is rather limited but I'll keep reading and learning. I have over 8 full rolls of oddball Wheat Cents I've collected through the years. Someday Ill go through them and post pics of the more intriguing examples for your advice and guidance, thank you all!

Great thread.

Thanks

John, when you get your coin back, you'll want to double check that the photo you posted of the reverse matches what I saw under the microscope. Your photo doesn't show the warping, flattening, or scrapes that I observed.

Very cool topic, even if it wasn't a rotated die.

I don't know how I did it they are labeled correctly in my picture file. This reverse picture is incorrect, the actual reverse I have saved is posted below. Sorry everyone Noob mistake. Mike does this Reverse appear to be Reverse you examined? Gosh I'm really sorry everyone.

Kudos to Dr. coop and all posters on this most infornmative thread.