70 S Not Confusing Enough For You?

Hint look at the bottom of the 7 in the date.

@Jim1953 Admittedly, I was confused by these for years until I found a real SD.
I'll just post a pic of a SD that shows the shape of 9 and 7 well:

Jim,
I have noticed that difference too--doesn't the interior oval of the 0 look slightly pointed?
I've made a mental note of other differences, such as the SD 7 digit. In addition to everything else, the top stroke appears shorter.
The downstroke of the 7 is shorter against the 0, and it also ends at an angle. The LD downstroke is longer and terminates more horizontally.
Here's a pic taken from a prior conversation on small dates--I have a large archive of these pics.

Joe,
We're just discussing here with ya! The small date/large date differences confused me for years...because I was looking for one in circulation. As noted elsewhere--they're very hard to find in change. I used to collect piles of 70-S, hoping to see just one small date in those hundreds of cents. I never had any luck--but eventually my mind played tricks on me because I wanted one so bad. It's sorta like the mirage in a desert when you're thirsty.

This was all cleared up when I actually found a Small Date in a dealer's pile of Lincolns. They're really obvious in person, and it should clarify the differences. Finding one in bank rolls is possible, but very difficult. Better bet--look for one in dealer bins where Lincolns are cut out from mint sets. For some reason, a lot of small dates turn up there.

About the photo above--I posted simply to illustrate the difference in top stroke length on the 7. The top picture is a small date, the bottom a large date, and the middle coin turned out to be a small date too, where damaged obscured details.

Lighting angles can play tricks with our eyes--another reason why inspecting a small date in hand makes all the difference. I'm no expert here on Lincolns, but forums like this have certainly helped!

Joe, those pics DV posted illustrate most of the primary diagnostic traits perfectly and you need to commit them to heart. They will make you a 1970-S small date expert among your peers. A couple of things I have learned about them are that the inside loop on the large date, if complete, would look more like a perfect circle where that same loop on the small date is more ovate or football shaped to my eye. And, this seems to stand out when looking at them in hand with a loop. I have gotten to the point that I can see this trait with the naked eye, or so I think.

Great pics, DV. I still thank Badthad for first pointing out to me the significance of the bottom of the 7. To me, that one is very obvious.

Jim

Great tips to diagnose this variety, I might add one more, if the ends of the nine are both pointed, you have a small date!!!
If the inside loop of the 9 points down towards the bottom of the 7, you have a large date.
If the inside loop of the 9 points towards the middle of the 7, you have a small date.

In other words, the inside loop of the 9 is more complete, almost like the letter "C".

I know this can be confusing, but these are just a few PUP'S, (pick-up points) for this coin, there are many more. I would, as suggested before, get a Red Book, pictures always work better for me, what ever you do Joe, do not give up, ask as many questions as you feel you need to, to understand this little hill you are having a problem with, good luck, pm me anytime, Mike....