The three coins above are three different shots I took of a Lincoln Cent in an old Whitman folder in the 1922-D hole. The question I have is could this be an actual 1922 Lincoln Cent?
Lincoln Cent in 1922
1921 saw the end of the Morgan Dollar and the introduction of the Peace Dollar
, but only a little over a million were minted that year. The mint decided to add many more silver dollars in 1922. To do this, they didn’t mint any nickels, dimes, quarters or half dollars during 1922. All three mints, Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco would produce the new Peace Dollars. With the Philadelphia mint working heavily on minting Peace Dollars, over 51,000,000 minted in 1922, this left Denver to mint cents as well as dollars. By the end of the year, Denver would produce 7,160,000 Lincoln Cents and just over 15,000,000 Peace Dollars.
It’s been told that there are three varieties of the 1922-D due to the overuse of the coin dies. The most common 1922 Lincoln Cents have the “D” mint mark, but there are some that had a weaker “D” or no “D” at all. They say the last “2” is clearer than the other digits, but with the wear of my coin, you can barely see the last “2”. Look at the pics of the top of this article, I can’t see a mint mark on this coin.
Now you might say, would no “D” mint mark mean more money? Absolutely! A regular 1922-D cent could be worth between $20 and $75 in circulation. A weak “D’ cent goes up to between $25 and $150. No “D” mint mark will give you between $600 and $4,500 in circulation. Looking at the wear of my 1922-D Lincoln Cent, if it has no “D”, I could be looking at a $600 coin. Woohoo!
Well, I decided to take another picture of it, and…
it looks like it’s a 1922-D. Drat!!! I was hoping not to find a mint mark, but it looks like there is a “D” under the date. Oh well, it’s still worth $20, and I have it in the right hole in the Whitman folder.
Have you ever had this experience before when you tried to determine what coin you had? Hope you had success finding out what it is. If there is anyone out there who actually has 1922-D with no mint mark, let me know. I’d love to see it!
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Hi Kevin.
I remember collecting coins with my dad when I was a kid. I never realized how much money some of them are worth. You’ve gotten me thinking that I should check out some of my older coins that I collected as a child!
It’s so crazy that just the mint of the coin can change the value so much.
Thanks for sharing your adventure!
Lizzie
Thanks for the comment Lizzie! That’s nice that you collected coins with your dad when you were younger. Maybe you’ll decide to return to coin collecting. This was one of those rare occurrences of a disappearing mint mark and one of the most known with the Lincoln Cents. Hope you find something decent in your coins.
Hello, Kevin
I’ve not collected coins for a hobby, but have several silver coins and a couple of silver certificates in my possession. I found your post intriguing. In fact, your post made me get out of the chair and check my coin bag. I didn’t see any 1922-D pennies but did notice I had some old quarters.
The dates ranging from 1934, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1953, 1958, 1959. One has an eagle on the back with what looks like a statue of a lady on the front. I’m unable to read the date. A dime that has a looks like a lady’s head with wings. A 1964 Kennedy half a dollar I believe. Also several Indian head pennies.
These coins left to me by a good friend of mine that has since passed. Your post has peaked my curiosity to find out more about these coins.
Thanks for sharing your exciting hobby.
Kevin
Thanks for the comment Kevin! That’s nice that you have those silver quarters. I think the one with the statue of a lady on the is a Standing Liberty Quarter which came out between 1916 and 1930. It’s not a surprise that the date is unreadable since they and Buffalo Nickels would wear down in circulation. That’s why they didn’t last long. The dime is probably a Mercury Dime between 1916 and 1945. It was a popular design, but when Franklin Roosevelt died, they decided to put his face on the dime in 1946.
Sorry to hear about your friend, but it’s cool that he gave them to you. I have a friend who also collects which makes it more interesting. Glad I got you interested. Maybe you’ll consider collecting in the future.