Lincoln cent with no date

Hello:  Just joined, and trying to get back in to the coin collecting arena after being away for over 50 years.  And, find I know about nothing except date, condition, and none of the new stuff, like “wide AM” had to ask just what that meant.  So quite an uphill climb for an 80 year old just trying to understand what the “new” coin world is like now.

  Back around 1956/7 I was a kid just jumping in to collecting pennies and by taking my weekly funds from sweeping an office and lawn mowing would get penny rolls from the bank going through them for my Whitman album (1909-1941).  I was able to complete the book and only had to do some trading to get the 1909 S   VDB (probably graded about Fine).  Well I ran into a Lincoln cent with no date, no scrubbing or scratching, smoothing signs.  Cent has the VDB on the obverse so it is post 1918.

 I was  told it is not an error, just a grease die thing.  Now my question is if something like a wide AM is worth something and there are several to many of them out there,  Why isn't something like a no date cent worth more than 2 cents, which I have been told.  How many “no date” cents are there out there versus a wide AM?

  Of course I am wanting it to be a mint error, something more than a penny.  But, trying to understand.  And how does grease keep metal under pressure keep four numbers from being struck.   Thanks for any information.

Grease filled die IS a mint error, it's just not one that is valued highly, depending on the severity of the error.

Look on eBay for for errors similar to yours, being sure to only search on Sold Items and you will find out what is is worth.  Taking a quick look using the search terms “Lincoln Missing Date” I can find some that have sold for about $20.

Any pictures please, i'd love to  see it.

thanks, Merv 

I have a coin inspecton station coming the end of this week.  Will post.  Yes, guess  what I have been told about the non-worth of something like this is the commn consensus.  Still confused that there seems to be way more wide “AM” pennies than some with no date.  So, just me thinking way back in the mid 50's that I had hit the mother lode.  Thought the fewer out would equate to more value.  But, no dice.

  Looked at eBay, but only a couple that were offset widely with no date were listed.  Mine is a perfect coin features, except the date.  Will send a pic later.

I think it is a mint error, and it will cost more than $0.02 for sure. The pictures would definitely help. But I think you have something similar to this one sold on eBay recently.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276297842242?hash=item4054a27e42:g:ndAAAOSwDJBlrrHe&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4LFeCGS2%2FFn6i6x7ndNDaJM6rK7DampaWXC6%2BzvmcPkJqVfa7ow3VeFdVA9OEiFa%2F3KcdoaoK6esqNYr0LS0hX3SjJwrWoBgmENFox9dOm632e8%2BNrYoq9s7c8W5WEAald8YQq0K7ipsnaKgenFQrOajztDtBS8o7gTBx0tmn55B8KGIwihdyi8Akxgxk76kAuzO%2Fn0jABqrNiOyY6%2BYH2MrSGYgMihRI3vRmsLw8PGYt%2FdK%2F1P44tq1%2FZ%2F8hPL1RawKw7z%2Fx8NWk0t68FncNuK1LWN3QeRTsr22ybCCVJNl%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR47i25mxYw

a1bigtuna

…

And how does grease keep metal under pressure keep four numbers from being struck.   

It's a good question.  

Remember that on the die the letters/numbers are recessed.  So if something gets into the “cavities” (recesses) the metal will experience a bit more resistance to flow than if the cavity is empty.   I agree that grease doesn't seem like it would offer much resistance, but the process is very fast (each coining press is producing hundereds of coins per minute).  

If your missing date is caused by the die date being filled with grease & therefore not printing (stamping) the numbers, I don't see any difference in this happening & when it happens on the “Kennedy” halves with the missing engravers initials “FG” on the reverse. The halves seem to be quite common but your missing date may be a rarity. 

Regards, Merv

Yes, the eBay penny is like the one I have, except mine is more worn.  The ebay one is in better condition.  Well my dream of finding the holy Grail, was just that, a dream, hope, etc.  And, I thought I had the only one way back around 1956 as a kid!