1939 Lincoln Wheat Cent (Button On Lincoln's Lapel?)

Standing by.

@Sarge50, The initial photos made me pause, because the front line of Lincoln's coat looked sharper than the surrounding design. Unfortunately, it's not the 1939 re-engraved die variety.

The 1939 RED-001 is a weird and rare variety. I've only seen one in real life, and never located one in the wild. For reasons that nobody can explain, a production die was hand-modified to strengthen the coat line, the period between "E" and "P" and the lower grains inside the left wheat stalk.

There are known re-engraved dies for the 1953 proof Lincoln Cent, 1938 proof Jefferson nickel, 1951 business strike Lincoln Cent, and 1971 business strike Lincoln Cent. There are suspected retouched dies for other dates, as well.

Anyway, I had hopes that you snagged one of these critters, but it isn't one of them. Thanks for taking and sharing the photos! Keep hunting, though.

I can't answer your question about the coat button. Given the known re-engraved die for the date, anything is open for discussion.

EDIT: The re-engraved dies are all extremely clumsy retooling. They obviously weren't done by engravers. I've never heard a logical explanation for their existence. The best guesses are that a bored production floor employee used an unknown tool to carve the dies during down time or that the engraving was actually an attempt to clean grease from a die. Neither or these really answers the question. I could see cleaning the coat line, but the period between the letters? The 2004-D high and low leaf Wisconsin Quarters is another re-engraving mystery. The Inspector General's Report stopped short of calling it die vandalism, but clearly said that something damaged the die on the production floor.

Well if it were struck like a button onto the coin:

Would like this. A big incuse mark into the coin and now show anything on the opposite side. But post strike something could move the metal but a contact mark and alter the surface. The metal splashes away from the contact site.



When looking with a scope, this that are really small, really look huge on the scope.

Could it be a dropped letter?

Looks too small to be a dropped letter issue.

@FortCollins.got what you requested posted! We on to something?

Back to the 39. I'm looking at the 39 RED and it looks like a proof coin. Does anyone know if it is or isn't?


Ok so after some research the 39RED is a common proof coin. I found two on ebay. Here's one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Linco...303988283675