I want to share this with all my students — posting it just before class: Just about a week ago, I stumbled onto a 2000 Wide AM Lincoln Memorial Cent, and correspondingly sent it off to be inspected by John Wexler, who is the Sherlock Holmes of Mystery Coins. In a minute, you’ll understand why I tell everyone I know who’s involved with coin search to visit and study his site! Here’s the letter I sent, attached to the sample:
“I can’t seem to find anything on the 2001 Wide AM. Either it’s so horrifically common that nobody mentions it, or it’s never been seen. Can you indicate which?”
Here’s his response:
“You haven’t seen anything on a Wide AM cent because no one has reported any.”
He invited me to visit his site, doubleddie.com for guidelines on how to send a coin for examination; I duly followed said guidelines and shipped off the coin.
I waited with semi-bated breath for his response, and happily got one sooner than I thought I might:
“I’m sorry to have to report that the 2001 cent you submitted is not a “Wide AM” variety. Though there is some slight separation to the A and M in AMERICA, it is not like the separation seen on the true Wide AM varieties. The slight separation seen on your coin may have been caused by die wear, hub wear or abrading (polishing) of the die to remove die clash marks. (he continues:)
“There is a distinct difference between the designer’s intitials seen on the Wide AM and Close AM varieties (reverses). The designer’s initials seen on your 2001 cent are a perfect match for the Close AM variety.” (he continues:)
“It’s always nice to hear from a fellow educator…it’s really a shame that it wasn’t what you thought it was. It would have generated a great article in Coin World. I do wish you all of the best in your coin searching. There is truly a lot of good “stuff” out there still waiting to be found.”
I agree, there’s tons of great coins out there, and not all of them are valuable, although it might well be interesting and even exciting to find something new and different that isn’t actually another variety.
I haven’t discovered another actual variety, but as you’ll soon see when when process the photos, there is a distinct difference between my coin and the run of the mill 2001 cents out there, and it isn’t just a matter of tired 71 year old eyeballs, either. My eyes did not lie; I saw something … different … and anomalies are what we’re looking for, right??? We’re learning to SEE things that are not ordinarily visible, that we normally look right past.
Fact is, I think there’s a big story idea here, one that could benefit lots of coin searchers; there are variations within varieties. Fun to find? You bet!
Sure enough, he echoed my thoughts exactly, as I shipped off the coin to him —it’s probably nothing — but I had to be sure. His experience proved invaluable; I hadn’t thought to check the “FG” designer’s initials! This would have immediately settled it for me…or would it have???
Hmmm, no, now that I think it over, there was still a compelling question that would have prompted me to send the coin to John Wexler, no matter what it turned out to be. Can you guess why I’ve had to send that coin?
See You At The Top!!!
gorby