Pat M. writes: I have a 1944 Lincoln penny that is unstruck on one side. Could you tell me the value of this?
You have a 1944 Wheat Penny with an error. Some errors can create a weak or incomplete image on one side. This can be caused by a fragment of a cleaning cloth adhering to a die’s surface or brockage where a struck coin remains on the surface of the die after striking and impresses its image on to the next coin blank.
If there is no evidence of an image there is a good chance that the coin’s reverse was planed off by someone outside of the mint. You can test this conclusion by weighing the coin. A copper U.S. cent weighs 3.11 grams. A planed off piece would weigh less. Altered coins have no premium.
