Close or wide

[stephanie.vazquez84]

I need clarification as to whether this is considered a wide am or close am please. Although the am aren’t touching is this still considered a close am since the m isn’t equally spaced apart like the rest of the letters? Many thanks!

[MintErrors]

In my opinion, it is a wide AM. The close AM is almost touching.
What year is this ?

In any event, here is a brief description and list of the ones that are out there:
https://www.lincolncentcollection.com/closeamwideam.php

[stephanie.vazquez84]

This is a 1994…

[MintErrors]

One thing we have to take into account, is the age of the die when this coin was struck, plus any circulation damage that may have occurred in the general area on the coin. The toning may play trick with my eyes, but the reference I sent says:

To summarize the following is normal:

• 1959-1992 all business strikes and proofs are supposed to have a Wide AM
• 1993 all business strikes and proofs have a Close AM
• 1994-2008 all business strikes have a Close AM
• 1994-2008 all proofs have a Wide AM

There is more info here:
http://varietyvista.com/25%20What%20...%20Changes.htm

In the above link, it shows the 1994 date only once and that is with RDV-007.

So, it is probably a Close AM, which is "normal" for that year. I was pretty groggy (1am) when I made that original assessment, not taking into account the age of that die which appears to have the letters a lot thinner than expected.
My Apologies.

Happy Hunting

[stephanie.vazquez84]

Is there a possibility that perhaps a wide am in this year was made in error?

[MintErrors]

In my personal opinion, I highly doubt it. The Lincoln cent working dies typically strike close to 1 million coins prior to it reaches its end of service. This means that IF there was a wide AM die used it more than likely would have been discovered and documented a long time ago.

BUT - Just about anything is possible. A highly unlikely scenario would be something like several mint workers not paying attention to protocol and a 1994 proof die, more than likely in San Francisco some how connects with a Philadelphia die ? Or a working die box meant for San Francisco was put in the
Inventory, and could have been used in Philadelphia ? Or the other way around, a Phildelphia obverse working die ends up in SanFrancisco and unnoticed, it's installed in a minting machine meant for proofs and starts striking coins. Then it's noticed after a few hundred escape that there was an issue where the proof reverse was correct, but the Philadelphia obverse business strike was not a proof die and the press was stopped and most of the coins were destroyed.

One would have to dig into who in 1994 made dies for each of the Mints. Did each mint make their own dies, or did Philadelphia make all the working dies and ship them to Denver and San Francisco ? Then there is the chain of custody, people signing and responsible for all the dies and doing a general check to see if all was legit and error free.

Again, we have to take into account that the coin you have was probably struck with a die that was on its last leg. Add in the condition of the coin and the toning, and it probably boils down to it being a normal coin.

You can add a post under the CONECA SERVICES forum under ATTRIBUTIONS and ask for a Coneca staff member to have a look at this coin to make sure.

[onecent1909]

This is a Close AM. get a 1990 cent to see a Wide AM, and a 1993 to see a close AM. If the dies were polished there can be a space between the A and M. with the CAM vs WAM.... Look at the AME..... the TAT in STATES... the FG shape is different.... the space between the FG and the Memorial is different

quick wamcam.jpg ...

[Gcantrell7]

This is definitely a close AM.