What Causes These Small Splits In Lincoln Cents (Any Date)

Light tricking your eye?
John1

The devices are not enlarged. Looks like either a contact mark on the tops of the devices, machine ejection doubling that damaged the tops of those devices, or a high bounce that affected that area. While you are looking at the correct area to find a doubled die, the spread/enlargement of the devices are not there.

It's not on every coin, just a lot of them. Even with different lighting conditions.



Doesn't seem to matter, that's why I added the 1973. I can't remember if I saw any on wheat backs or the 60s. I already have the 60s rolled up and the wheat backs are worn pretty bad so I couldn't tell.




Coop, I think you may be right and this is what's happening to them.




Haha, I could post pictures of coins all day long, but I will show you a few examples. There really is quite a lot of them that look like this. I keep thinking they are DDO because of it, especially now that I have a new scope and can really zoom in.



I'm posting them in order of date, closeup then full obverse. 1973, 1986, 1991, 2005, even a 2019 D, just to show that it's not only on Philadelphia cents. It's usually more noticeable on the LIB in Liberty, sometimes affecting the top of every letter.

Sorry about posting multiple coins and so many pictures, but I had a reason to this time.

1973



1986



1991



2005



2019 D

This one is a 1993 D

Edit - unless it is just the light playing tricks on me, but I have tried placing the coins at different directions and using other types of lighting and still see them.

Edit - I think it's the glare coming off my computer screen, since I go through coins while sitting in front of it. I don't think I've seen it on older brown cents (less reflective), just the newer looking ones.