A 2005 Reader’s Digest article claims some pennies from 1998-2000 have the “AM” separated at the base as opposed to touching in one spot (middle, bottom of the two letters). So, my daughter and I started looking through our pennies, and guess what? Even in years prior, there are pennies where the “AM” are clearly separate from each other. Did the prefered style keep changing? Or, are all of these fluke pennies? (RD cited Coin World Magazine as its source.)
FYI: They’re not worth a fortune, but they are supposedly worth more that $0.01.
I’m not usually obsessive enough to look that closely; and I’m not that obsessive right now.
Just as a guess: the Mint routinely changes dies, AND uses different pressures on the planchets. Take a quick look at pennies from the 1960s and compare them to pennies made this year (I don’t mean the metallic composition, just the physical depth of the images). Those cats at the Mint are always up for manufacturing efficiency, and there’s a whole industry dedicated to finding their mistakes.
This is not all craziness; amateur numismatists are watchdogs for problems and counterfeits.
The Guide Book of United States Coins (2007 edition) says (page 120) that the design of the Lincoln cent was changed in 1993 so that the A and M in “AMERICA” are closer together. This seems to be the case- compare the position of the A on this 1980 cent to this 1999 one. The letters “FG” (for Frank Gasparro, the designer) are also closer to the side of the Lincoln Memorial on the older design than the newer one. Some coins minted in 1998, 1999, and 2000 have the older design with the A and M father away and the FG closer to the memorial- this site shows the difference. Proof cents (shiny cents made specifically for collectors) still use the older design with the A and M farther away and the FG closer (I confirmed this by looking at my 2007 proof cent), which is apparently why some 1998-2000 cents have the problem.
Wow, I learned something too! Thanks for asking this question!
