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 Replies: 24 / Views: 604 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2731 Posts |
Seems like the lower design of the 9 has been altered by the proximity of the D. Is this normal design for the 1956?   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7614 Posts |
I'd guess is was on all the coins struck with that particular die. Back in them days the mint marks were punched into the working dies by hand and some workers weren't too careful about how they did things. The problem was minimized many years later by the Mint punching the mint marks into the master dies to minimize the variance and die punch errors. My Two Cents — others may have a better explanation. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10491 Posts |
Quote:
Is this normal design for the 1956?
Like Westernsky had stated - mintmarks were punched into the dies by hand back then - so the mintmark placements varied from die to die. For that particular die -that mintmark was considered "normal" albeit a bit high. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10491 Posts |
Just a quick look on ebay and I spotted this coin with the same mm placement as yours.............  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2731 Posts |
The question I'm asking is did the hand punching of this particular MM alter the lower design of the 9?
"Pride is yoked with callous behavior, as humility is with compassion." St. Gregory Palamas Top Finds - 1969-S 1c FS-101 http://goccf.com/t/477681 1976 D WQ FS-101 http://goccf.com/t/382777 - 1968 D 1c FS-801 http://goccf.com/t/422254Cool clashed dies - 1972 D 1c http://goccf.com/t/429855&SearchTerms=CCLStruck-In Rim Burr - 1969 S 1c http://goccf.com/t/425587&SearchTerms=burrFloating (Type II) Counterclash - 1978 D 1c http://goccf.com/t/434991&SearchTerms=1978Edited by CoinHI
04/26/2026 01:43 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10491 Posts |
Quote:
did the hand punching of this particular MM alter the lower design of the 9? Well if it did it obviously wasn't enough for the Mint to be concerned and pull the die.  |
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Moderator
United States
15395 Posts |
Quote:
Is this normal design for the 1956? In a way, yes. Paraphrasing the mint mark placement requirements in 1956, the mint mark must be located somewhere in the triangle between the date, rim and bust. This D mint mark, just about touching the 9 is as close to the date as allowable by the rules in place at the time. I don't see that it altered the design of the 9. Nice curiosity that I would keep in a 2x2. Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73798 Posts |
Very cool find.  Errers and Varietys.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
21589 Posts |
Also this would not be rare as there were probably between 900,000 and 1,000,000 struck,
depending on when then die was retired.
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Moderator
United States
95018 Posts |
The MM punch could have moved a bit of metal of the die into the void for the 9 when the mint worker added the MM. but there would be millions of these, making it not too rare.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3628 Posts |
For Denver in 1956, that's actually normal. The 1956 Denver coins have a fairly wild spectrum of mm placement. Remember, this is the date with three completely separated mint marks, two with the primary D above a secondary D fully separated to the south (WRPM-008 and WRPM-018) and another with the primary D completely separated NW of the primary D (WRPM-023). The last coin has the secondary D punched completely on top of the tail of the 9. It was not Denver's finest moment.  EDIT: On the other hand, Denver succeeded in minting over one billion 1956-D cents. Is that the first world mint to strike a billion of one type of coin in a year? Edited by fortcollins
04/26/2026 5:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5770 Posts |
I agree with Dearborn about the lower part of the 9 being affected by punching the MM so close. Displaced metal probably pushed into the tail of the 9 on the die. Quote:
Is that the first world mint to strike a billion of one type of coin in a year? I wondered about which year the US mint produced a billion coins of one denomination at one of the mints and I believe it happened in 1941 @ Philly. Words of encouragement are one of the major food groups.
We need to consume them regularly to thrive and grow.
Edited by Petespockets55
04/26/2026 9:50 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8733 Posts |
It's kind of odd, it looks in between ODV-018 and ODV-019. Yours looks to be a later die stage and the overall thickness of the 9 is fatter except for the tail, which maybe was polished. I think it should be ODV-019 but not sure....  -makecents-
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Moderator
United States
187776 Posts |
Interesting.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19126 Posts |
Interesting conversation, yes.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2731 Posts |
Thanks for the conversation here gang! I've made a collage of 56D's which I believe shows the MM punch is indeed altering the devise design. -The MM furthest away shows no flattening of the outside curve of the lower 9. -The closer MM shows a flattening of the outside curve of the lower 9. -The closest MM shows a bending inward of the outside curve of the lower 9.  |
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Replies: 24 / Views: 604 |
Posted 04/26/2026 12:11 am
