Damage or error on 1939 s penny

[Jonns]

I was wondering if this was caused by gas bubbles that ruptured or some type of damage?

[MintErrors]

Gas bubbles are more common on Zinc cents. Most of the gas bubbles on copper/bronze cents I have seen were subject to high heat.

Since its circulated, its difficult to know what happened and where.

It might be a lamination issue. It might be post mint damage or, a combination of both.

The area near and under the LI in LIBERTY looks like lamination. The rest of the line heading towards IN sort of looks like the lamination got snagged on something and it was torn off. The crater itself does not look like a lamination tear that I personally have seen before. It looks more like damage. Laminations are typically shallow and flaky. This looks deeper.

There appears to be something west of Lincolns ear as well. This looks more like damage.

With circulated coins, its difficult to assess some coins. This could have been damaged by some sort of screw press. I dont see any damage on the rim on the obverse.

Whats the reverse look like ?

[Jonns]

Here is a picture of the back and another picture at a different angle. Thsnks