Low Mint Mark on 1985 D Lincoln Penny

[EdgarAllanPoe]

Hi All,

I have discovered (and others have apparently) a 1985 D Lincoln Penny where the mint mark is noticeably lower than its standard placement. I will provide images but the difference in placement can be easily seen with the naked eye. Does anyone know if this is an error?

Edgar

[SensibleSal66]

Pictures Please?? Thanks!

[Paul]

Mint marks were hand punched into the working die,....
So their positions will vary

[oldbearjames]

“Dancing Mint Marks” are the term for this or at least it used to be.I always liked mint marks moving around, gave sort of a human touch to an otherwise mechanical process.

[Daniel]

Very normal and no added value, mint marks can vary.

[EdgarAllanPoe]

Thanks all!
I shall wait until I find a "real" minting error before
posting again!

Edgar

[Paul]

“Dancing Mint Marks” are the term for this or at least it used to be.I always liked mint marks moving around, gave sort of a human touch to an otherwise mechanical process.

"Make your fortune selling US Mint Error coins Today!.....just make up what it is! (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/dancin ... es.353647/)"

You see, this is the problem

[oldbearjames]

Right I agree, sales tacticians frustrate me. You”re right in the sense that all sorts of practices including deceptive ones are to get people to pay more or be persuaded to buy. Not the case with me. I’m truly intrigued with the hand punching of mint marks, they do end up punched “all over the place” because a human does it/did it at the end of the process. I don’t search rolls of coins looking for odd placed mint marks so I can jack up the price 20%. I do it so I can show the community just another aspect of how the coins we hold from the past can connect us to those who’ve gone before us.
Dancing Mint Marks didn’t come from me. That was a phrase I saw in an article from either Coin Week, Coin World or one I'm forgetting from the ‘80s/‘90s. Even then it wasn’t used to sell coins, it was just an article based on what an observant collector noticed.
Again I get your point. Marketing is really a problem in this hobby but if enough well intended individuals stick around and help the newbies, the hobby should stay in good shape.

[Daniel]

It was Coin Talk and someone like you coined dancing mint marks, it’s not used in a professional sense to officially describe mint mark placements.

[oldbearjames]

“someone like me” What does that mean?
Yes, I’ve used the term in a listing before but never to deceive in order to get more money from a buyer or to create some new sensational buying opportunity. If I’m guilty of anything it would be perpetuating a term that is not used to describe the placing of mint marks by the profession. Fair enough. I can stop that.
I’ll swear to my dying day I read that in a book, magazine or paper when I was getting back into coin collecting from the mid ‘80s on.
“someone like me” What does that mean?

[Iceresistance]

“someone like me” What does that mean?
Yes, I’ve used the term in a listing before but never to deceive in order to get more money from a buyer or to create some new sensational buying opportunity. If I’m guilty of anything it would be perpetuating a term that is not used to describe the placing of mint marks by the profession. Fair enough. I can stop that.
I’ll swear to my dying day I read that in a book, magazine or paper when I was getting back into coin collecting from the mid ‘80s on.
“someone like me” What does that mean?

General people, scammers will find fancy wording to gain profit from simple coins that make the buyer think that the coin has a valuable Mint Error when it really doesn't.

[Earle42]

We have a lot of people coming here who have heard what I term cutesy ebay fad names. We get the misfortune, time after time, of having to tell them they having nothing despite the plethora of online auctions and youtubers telling them they have a "L@@K!!! RARE COIN! L@@K!"

Admittedly, I think we all get weary of having to be the bearers of bad news b/c of online auction sellers trying to con others, and also the huge number of unknowledgeable youtubers trying to make a buck off of collectors by making their videos exciting (thereby misleading people into thinking striking it rich with coins is simple).

We also have had people coming here with suggestions for a new cutesy name intent on selling their "rare items." Some of these people even argue that we have no idea what we are talking about when we tell them their "new amazing find" is nothing at all.

This is what typically we get when some one comes here using a "cutesy name," not used by the actual coin hobby. So I hope you can see how, from past history of the forum, that a red flag goes up when some new term like "dancing mint marks" accompanies a post.

[oldbearjames]

Earl, I totally understand this and in past posts I hope I conveyed how much I respect your knowledge. I’m so thankful for the time that you and the other pros on this site put in expanding the knowledge base to all. I understand the red flags it must of raised hearing a new term and all the concerns that come with it. What I don’t get is that it’s new. I read it 35 yrs. ago. Alas, so as not to belabor the point I move on; perspective gained. Thanks again for your work!

[Earle42]

I admit I have not heard the term before, I am guessing since you read it so long ago and it is not referred to today in the hobby that it was just a passing remark where you read it?

Unfortunately times have changed and so something likely innocent like that back then can be mistaken for situations like I mentioned above.

In fact, after being here and seeing the amount of this that happens for wrong reasons nowadays, I have been careful to not use some of the nicknames I have used in my own notes to save me from typing out a descriptive sentence each time I write about a specific coin. If I do use the nickname I make sure to put in a note it is NOT an official title.

BTW - and just a side note, I would love to see someone study all the positions they can find for a specific date and MM. It would be a huge undertaking to do all of them for sure, but then again I am sure before the Red Book people thought what a task it would be to list every date, MM, and mintages for every coin as well as a price level for each grade level!

I think people could have fun chasing them down if they knew what to look for.

[oldbearjames]

Your 3rd paragraph is what I need to learn what to do!
Your 2nd paragraph is exactly how I feel and why I feel so bad for the reactions.
Before I even knew you posted the above(specifically the first paragraph) is why I researched coin literature archives and found:
https://www.numismaticnews.net/archive/ ... s-can-move
By Ken Potter. I wrote him and asked if they were ever referred to as something else. Waiting for a response(I hope I have the correct e-mail.)
And you’re right, that would be a huge undertaking! I remember having just a few rolls of Unc. ‘54-S Jefferson Nickels. The MMs were all over the place, some large, some small, some clear and most filled. That was of just one year of one denomination from just one mint!
Thanks for the post

[Daniel]

“someone like me” What does that mean?
“someone like me” What does that mean?

Just a normal collector and community member, not a professional that names and attributes varieties.

[oldbearjames]

Yup, this is true. Thanks for the response.