Washington State Quarter and Lincoln Cent with Ghost Traces [Mach. Doub.] [solved]

Hello, I have two coins (a quarter and a cent), which display « ghost » traces. The D on the quarter, the 3 of 1953 on the cent. I read this is caused by grease on the die. Do you think that’s the case here too ? If it’s so, I guess there is no particular bonus value to it. Or is this another case of machine doubling ?

Thanks 

Ginger

Hi there,

which microscope are you using?

Hi, the brand is MICSCI. It’s a 4.3 ’’ digital microscope. We can snap pictures and even make videos with it, but TF-Card up to 64 G is needed (and sold separatly). I have the same microscope at home. Neither my place of work nor I have the card. That’s why I pictured the screen with my phone.

It looks like machine doubling, so I'll treat them as such.

On the cent, I have to question the verdict of machine doubling for three reasons:

1. The ghost 3 is significantly rotated.

2. The ghost 3 is tilted, that is, not level with plane of the coin.

3. No evidence on the 5.

So the question: is it possible for this to occur during mintage? On the other hand with a mintage of nearly 257 million and after 72 years, it highly unlikely you have a new die variety. 

Still, it wouldn't hurt to contact the folks at coppercoins.com for an opinion.

Yeah, It's odd. I didn't even notice that. I still labelled it as a machine doubling, and put it for sale. As you said, I don't think I'll ever find a significant varietty that has escaped the eagles eyes of so many collectors and numismatists before. Odds are slim. I might still write to Coppercoins.com. I didn't know them yet. Thank you.

EDIT : I set it aside, I will wait for their opinion…

Hello. Here's my 1953 wheat cent with my digital microscope. I think I can see similar « ghost » traces on the 3, mostly the bottom half.

Lower magnification and it seems to be still there.

And with my camera:

Seems quite normal.

Yeah, it looks just like mine. Still, I will ask them, and I’ll see. And I will tell you.

Point was to always start with picture of the full coin then move up in magnification.  That helps to keep prospective no matter what the object is.

I never got an answer from coppercoins.com, so I guess it's nothing unusual… I'll just put it back in the album as such.

If you want to pursue further, there is another source: Wexlers die varieties, doubleddies.com. 

Looking through the site, my impression is that they are looking for collector input, so maybe a better chance for a response.

At any rate, it can't hurt!

Thank you.

You're most welcome. If anything comes from it, please update. 

Well, they talk about sending coins to them, and the coin is not mine. So, I decided not to pursue further.

I believe it’s nothing extraordinary, and people in Quebec might not be into US varieties all that much.

Ginger

Well, they talk about sending coins to them, and the coin is not mine. So, I decided not to pursue further.

I believe it’s nothing extraordinary, and people in Quebec might not be into US varieties all that much.

Ginger