Die Gouge On A 1984-D Lincoln Cent

The last image you provide indicates to me that it is a plating issue like gas bubbles will produce. Since that kind of damage is not collectible I don't have any photo's that you can compare your coin with.

Jazzcoins elucidated:



Holy cows, flying pigs and hallelujah! An original thought! Thank you, Jazzcoins!

I did some digging around, to clarify the language, and I found this site's glossary.

die crack
A raised, irregular line on a coin, ranging from very fine to very large, some quite irregular. These result when a hairline break occurs in a die.

The definition fits.

rockdude:



More bubbles?

To the Bubble Guild: What theory could possibly explain how a bubble or bubbles managed to line up all the way across the coin to form raised, irregular, colinear lines, not much more than hairlines, on the field on either side of the head? How silly does calling it a bubble sound now?

coop added:



Thanks for the examples. It looks more like a gouge than bubble(s).

As for definitions. From the site's glossary:

error
A numismatic item that unintentionally varies from the norm. Ordinarily, overdates are not errors since they were done intentionally while other die-cutting "mistakes" are considered errors. Double dies, planchet clips, off-metal strikings, etc. also are errors.

Is a die crack intentional or unintentional? Does it vary from the norm? The Mint might not call it an error, but the Mint has to produce millions of coins, and the cost of preventing certain varieties of errors from going into circulation would be too high--the cost outweighs the benefit. Nevertheless, it is an unintentional deviation from the norm.

Oops! I used the word variety again. Someone didn't like it when I called a gouge an error. Someone didn't like it when I used the word variety as a generic term to describe a group of coins with a particular constellation of flaws (the series of coins produced by the same die). Obviously, there is a private language here that I have not mastered. However, denying valid observations from someone who only wants to classify something only serves to separate yourselves from others. Did it violate the numismatic definitions of the words? Perhaps. However, to say that a gouge, crack or bubble is not an uninentional variation from the norm would effectively make coins with any of these flaws or any other kind of damage or wear all as collectible and valuable as mint uncirculated coins, and clearly they are not.

Collectible? I used to know a guy who collected varieties of fake dog poo. Someone out there is collecting cornflakes that resemble other things. Someone else out there is hoarding any oddity or any variety of anything. Anyone who has come here to ask about a particular error or any kind of flaw on a coin has already collected that coin. What is collectible to you may not be collectible to others and vice versa. Saying that something that someone has is not collectible only means that you might not be interested in collecting it, and saying so only serves to devalue that person's possession because you want to make your collectibles more valuable. That's nonsense. If it is a physical object, it is collectible, and it could be collectible to someone.

Is a speared bison a gouge or a crack? It is listed by PCGS and carries a premium. Is it not collectible? I've read on the sites of other collectors that die cracks double the value of the coin. In the case of the speared bison, the gouge or crack more than doubles the value.

Stop confusing your opinions and distorted thinking with fact.

Do I even need to respond to coppercoins? As I recall, he was done with this thread. I find it ironic that he is trying to get more than face value for his coins but wants to dismiss my penny as junk. That sounds like bad karma just waiting to happen.

rockdude:



And you're just baiting me. Your motivation? I can only guess...

- You think that you know everything and can't stand it when anyone dare challenge you?
- You enjoy this kind of exchange and do what you can to get more of it?
- You're egging me on, waiting for me to either go away so that nobody else dare challenge you or for me do something stupid that brings me admonishment from a moderator?
- So that I volunteer what I intend to do with my penny?
- So that I return the penny to circulation so that a more worthy collector might find it?

Why would you perceive that I only want to argue? Because I refuted a few ludicrous statements? Show me a flaw in my reasoning.

What do I know nothing about? Do I need to know everything about a subject before asking questions? If I was an expert, why would I need to ask questions?

What do I need to study? Any fact that I used to refute a nonsensical statement came from this site or another site about minting or numismatics. Do I need to study more chemistry or physics to understand that gases formed in the plating process would probabilistically be more random than colinear and continuous, unless some barrier forced the air bubbles to form in such an ordered manner?

Do I need to study more psychology to understand the closed-society mentality that I have encountered here? ... to understand the use of jargon to exclude outsiders? ... to understand the motives of people who want others to treat them as experts regardless of what nonsense they try to pass as expertise? ... to understand why someone might use subterfuge to confuse someone?

Or do I need to study the current state of education, to understand why reading comprehension is generally quite low and why many people don't read or write well enough to contribute meaningfully to a text-based dialogue?

Do I need to study more English to understand what the meaning of the word is is?

What else do I need to study? How long do I need to study before that study would entitle me to ask questions? There was an open invitation for new members on this site, after all.

Google isn't always friendly when you're looking for the answer to a very specific question... But I kept searching and found:

Speared Head Lincoln. Whoa! Check it out! That is here at this site... and responses are generally friendly, helpful and even congratulatory. Ha! Who's that posting the second reply? It's rockdude! And I quote, "How did that survive circulating without being snatched up long ago?"

The poster enjoyed the feedback so much that he posted it elsewhere. Oh, my! Look at the first reply! It's rockdude! And he thought it was quite a find!

Someone in that thread had even seen one like it on ebay! where someone collected it because someone thought that it might be collectible--or thought he could make a quick buck. Of course, that's been there for months. The trajectory on the 1983 is far too steep to accurately depict the fatal bullet, but the right buyer might come along...

So exactly where have I erred, dude?

Stranger,
You described your coin, and then you got some good advice from both helpful collectors and recognized experts.
Seeing how this thread has drifted, it's obvious the issue with the coin is settled on this end--so it's time to take their advice and get on with things
This all got a little too personal--and we've said as much as we can about this coin, so I'm going to lock this one.