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 Replies: 63 / Views: 14,050 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
same here.
the OP of the other 1974 aluminum cent made 2 accounts and 2 topics.
the 2nd one I think is still open for us to make fun of him...lol
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Send it to ICG and be done with it :-)
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
I wasn't going to post further information but after reading a few of the "comments" posted to this thread, I felt I should.
I spoke with the OP, double07, on the telephone last night. He is an instructor at a Virginia high school. A family member of his worked at a cafe near the United States Capital in the early to mid-1970's. They saved interesting coins from the cash register and this is one of the pieces that was retrieved from the register over 35 years ago.
The OP is on the "up and up" and truly believes this piece could be one of the 1974 aluminum cent pattern pieces that were released. There is no call for accusations and name calling of someone who comes to CCF with a legitimate question and wants help or numismatic advice.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2150 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
I am with you bherring and joker....not because of the story, but because of the range of possibilities, and also......just because.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4000 Posts |
I agree. I thought some of the responses were uncalled for, too. How many of us came here with something we thought was a great find only to find out it wasn't?  Pick me! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
I'm on the side of those who think the off-hand comments are unnecessary.
My point was that all - ALL - known existing examples of the aluminum 1974 cents are struck with a large date die. There were only around 200,000 struck total, which might account for as many as two or three different dies, but at the time all of them were large date. The cent in this thread is a small date cent. The main 'teller' is that the motto is farther away from the rim on the small date than on the large date. It is because of this AND because of the solder on the back, AND that it would be exceedingly rare if genuine that I say there's almost no chance at all that this coin is one of the legitimate 1974 aluminum cents.
Addressing the other part of the question - if this coin IS indeed a genuine 1974 aluminum cent you definitely risk having it confiscated by the secret service because it is not an official issue and was not supposed to be in the hands of the public. That's my take on everything I have read on the subject, but I could be wrong because I am not with the government and I am not an attorney. I would be VERY careful as to where you send the coin, just in case the 0.01% chance it's a real aluminum cent comes true.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
It is my belief (and sincere hope) that the secret service might have more pressing issues to attend to besides chasing down aluminum pennies.....If we are paying their salaries to actually engage in such petty stuff, I demand that my tax payments be returned to me immediately....  Edited by zeewool
11/29/2010 6:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
958 Posts |
my question is what does it matter if someone has one ?
They cant do anything with it beside give it to a musem
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
It's actually a very simple matter of these being test pieces never intended for public distribution. If the public has them, they expect them to be returned. Some were not, and the Secret Service is charged with the job of ensuring their return and destruction within reason. If one surfaces and is being exchanged between people, it lies vulnerable to being traced down and confiscated.
Something some people here may not know is that in 1969 there were some fake doubled die Lincoln cents made and distributed. The Secret Service was very involved in finding and confiscating them...so involved that a number of genuine 1969S doubled dies were assumed fake and destroyed as well. They have since tamed down their wholesale confisaction of numismatic items, but they are still interested in making sure that test pieces not intended for distribution are returned and destroyed.
I am not sure that they have so much to do so as to render one of their primary purposes as unimportant. I would prefer to leave that determination to the entity itself. I am only forewarning the possessor of such "contriband" (as the government sees it) that much care must be taken in its handling if they do not want to see it snached up by the Secret Service.
With all this having been said, I still do not believe the original poster of this thread to have reason to worry because I highly doubt the piece to be genuine.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1424 Posts |
There doesn't appear to be any space between the A M in AMERICA....in 1974 there should have been a space.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
i apologize for my off-handed comment, it was not necessary for this discussion and brought us nowhere.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
838 Posts |
Does anyone know whether the large/small date dies were switched at a certain time of the year in 1974? (Aside: what about 1960 and 1982?) Or, were the dies generally mixed up throughout the year? Having answered this question, we can compare with the dating of the known aluminum test run(s) to definitively exclude the small date aluminum. The fact that all known examples are large date really means nothing. That logic could have been used to kill many legitimate varieties before their discovery. Coin not in hand, I can only be thoroughly convinced it's illegitimate if the known timing of the small date dies and aluminum blanks do not overlap. (Another aside: By the way, yes, this looks like a post '92 Close AM reverse. If so, forget everything I said above. Could be the pics fooling me, though. ) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
bibd..the pics are fooling you...look at the FG almost touching memorial (as in Wide AM)but the question you pose is a good one. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19964 Posts |
It' definately a small date 74. To me it looks like it was heated during a soldering process which melted the tin causing it to rise to the surface and replate. Judging by the reverse it was once on a necklace or ring.
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Replies: 63 / Views: 14,050 |
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Posted 11/29/2010 5:14 pm
