1936 P Penny DDO-002

That's it, you have correctly identified it, Nice find and good luck with the rest of the batch.

excellent find and variety

i have yet to find a 1936 DDO... one of these days

Hey John1,
You're 100% right that it's a variety and not an error. I was thinking of a few of the other error coins I've found so far in the collection.

I hadn't heard of Verdi-Care. I'd love to get rid of the dirt/grime on the coin. I don't plan on getting the coin graded but I still like to know I could if I wanted to without it coming back as "genuine cleaned". I've had success dipping clad coins in acetone before and have never had one come back from PCGS as cleaned. I've also heard success stories of people using MS 70 but neither of those options is a great idea for pennies.

What's your experience using Verdi-Care?

Error or Variety?
By Jay Turner - March 2, 2020 PCGS Article
Errors

An error is a mistake stemming from the method of manufacturing and can be insignificant or massive. The significance of the error can be judged on the specific mint that produced it and the tolerances that mint has for manufacturing defects, this is called "mint tolerance." Errors can occur at any time during manufacturing the coin. These mistakes can be anything from an inconsistent mixture of the metal that the coin is made from, to planchet-production issues, to striking, and even thereafter. Most errors are unique to that particular coin. If the metal is off, made on a wrong or clipped planchet, and/or struck incorrectly, usually this only occurs on one or perhaps a few pieces. Collectors of error coins judge the significance and the market value of these pieces, which means some errors can be considered detrimental and of less value as compared to a non-error coin, while others are considered significant and bring fortunes to those who discover and sell them.
Varieties
A variety is often something that has to do with the die or dies that were used to produce the coins. The die that strikes or casts a coin holds the design that will be transferred to the coinage it produces. Any variance in design from one die to another causing a difference large or small on each coin struck from that die as opposed to another is a variety. These varieties can be significant or insignificant, again depending on mint tolerance. When dies were handmade, each one became different and often easily identifiable. Yet, any mint using handmade dies allows for significant differences from coin to coin, thus not considering it anything outside of their judgement of tolerance. When machine-made dies came into effect the degree of acceptable variance dropped and more consistent coinage was the goal. Die differences such as repunching, recutting, doubled dies, and other distinguishing factors became collectible varieties to the generic coinage for those who choose to collect them. These varieties will repeat on each coin struck by the die that holds this inconsistency, thus making them a variety.

Some coins can be both errors and varieties.
This has to do with the nature of the coin's manufacturing and quantities of pieces produced. Die breaks, mules, and even some off-metal strikes are both errors and varieties by numismatic definitions. For instance, die-breaks are caused when the die starts to crack and break away. These are progressive error-varieties that change as more and more of the die breaks away. And, since most pieces struck by these failed or failing dies would never be considered acceptable by most mints, they are considered both an error and a variety as they repeat on multiple coins, some assigned by reference numbers. Mules are errors from which two dies never designed to be used together are; they are considered both errors and varieties. Some off-metal pieces like the transitional 1943 Bronze and 1944 Steel Lincoln Cents are so famous that even though they are errors they are considered by some necessary varieties for their complete Lincoln Cent set. Following a long hiatus of implementing this process on coinage, the United States reintroduced edge inscriptions in 2007 to dollar coins, and this edge lettering was added in a separate step from striking the obverse and reverse. Entire bins of struck coins never had their edge lettering added in error and were released to circulation without edge lettering. These are errors but were produced in such abundance that they are considered a variety to the series.

Yes, 100%. I've definitely found a significant amount lamination issues.

Thanks CentSation, I really appreciate it! I had never heard of using a porcupine quill before. Is that used because it's soft enough that it can't cause damage to the metal? The only thing I've heard of so far about cleaning dirt off of pennies that seems *somewhat* agreed upon in the coin community is to use distilled water but I doubt that will really be able to get the crud out of the crevices on its own.

Also, I love your idea of sorting and storing the pennies. I definitely keep finding out about new RPMs, OPMs, and doubled dies that I didn't check for on my first pass through.

Thanks again!