1944 Not Mint Penny, L On Rim

Very normal coin.



to the CCF!

yes, normal for these years, until the mint altered the design later and moved it off the rim.

If this occurred for several years, then it could be a master hub issue. All the examples of cents that year would all look the same.


Master hub wear was progressive from year going back to the first Lincoln cents. Through the years some modifications were done to re-enhance the aging master hub. There were many examples of this through the years. But the master hub continued to swell outwards. The last year was the 1968 for the master hub. It was recreated in 1969 that ended the die swelling. (many years had taken it toll on the master hub. But the recreation peocess continued as the more of the master hubs were created during some decades. One clue is the large and small cents. These occurred as changes were to the master hub through the years. After 1983 It seems that new master hub was made more often. Eventually yearly) But as mentioned on the master hub on the 1944 year, was still an aging master hub that was swelling. As mentioned, the dies also age and they also move towards the rim direction. So I checked the 1944-D wheat cents to see if I can help us see these changes and even another factor. Die polishing. die polishing will reduce the height and width of the devices, when the dies surfaces are polished.

Note on this area where the die wear is seen on the first image (MS-66). On the second image the die wear from die polishing altered the devices reducing the size of the dies MS-67. On the MS-68 images, they are LDS die state, but not a polished die on this coins examples. As you compare them you can see the die wear direction, the die polishing affects some devices more than others depending on their location and die wear. When the die was not polished the dies remained the normal size, but still showing die wear.

We often see examples of on coin, but seeing multiple coins with different dies from the same year, we start to see patterns on how the dies age.

Hope this helps a bit more. Digging deeper helps us see a little bit more on how the dies are affect during the aging process and polishing process. I always want to know why? I guess that is how you learn when you look deeper into a subject.