Transitional Cents

thanks john I looked at that site before. it pretty much covers the ones I mentioned so I guess no others have benn found , unless some have but not on that site

I doubt it. Getting the wrong dies together is really a screw up at the mint. Either the die wasn't on the truck, or somebody dropped the ball and didn't get them swapped. Always, it seems to be the new reverse on an older issue with the exception of the 1959 Wheat back. There are so few of the issues that exist, in my opinion the mistake is corrected as soon as it's noted by QC. The mint never releases the mintage numbers for obvious reasons. Everybody wants to keep their job. lol And the mints try not to make mistakes and keep quiet on the ones they do. IMHO

westnlas - Actually the possibility of the transitional coins existing is quite good. We are talking about an undated reverse that could conceivably be used the next year. I have never seen a transitional coin from the 1970s, but that does not mean they do not exist. The 1959 cent was either a good fake or was clandestinely produced at the mint. My bet is on it being an alteration or a fake. If it were a true error, at least one more of them would have surfaced by now. The chances that the mint only produced ONE of them and that it was found after circulation are astronomically small.

wolf-n-wa - Take one each of the cents from 1972-1974 and study the designer's initials to the right of the memorial building. Note the difference in the size of the initials, then look around the rest of the reverses and compare the relief, shapes of the letters, etc. You will notice a number of differences. Consider what you see on the first coins you study as being the "normal" reverses for their respective dates. Then simply look for any other coins from the same dates that have the wrong reverses. If you know what a 1973 reverse looks like and find a 1974 with the same reverse as the 1973 cents you've been finding, then you probably have an error.

This works the same for people looking for the wide-AM reverses on 1998, 1999, and 2000 cents and they are asking what to look for. Simple...grab a 1992 cent and a 1993-1997 cent and compare the reverses, paying closest attention to the spacing of the A and M and the shape and spacing of the designer's initials to the memorial building. After learning what's "normal" for each of those reverses simply start searching 1993-date cents with the 1992 reverse. Done.

Well, the complete story of the 1959 Wheat sure is interesting reading. The Treasury department ruled it authentic twice. Of course when the convicted killer in prison claimed he had made it, the thing went into turmoil. I think a mint employee may have struck a single coin and smuggled it out. At any rate the last sale was for a princely sum. lol Much more than I can afford, anyway. But, I agree that if it were a true transition, another likely would have turned up by now.