Wide AM Experts Needed! I think I found one?

Groovedymond

Sr. Member
May 23, 2006
299
11
Salem, NH
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter - QuickSilver
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello Everyone! Thanks for looking!

Happened to be scanning my change this morning (as I habitually do every morning) and came across this. I've seen some articles here on this site and others, and I think I may have found a Wide AM cent.

What do you think? Is it a wide AM or just a common design I hadn't noticed before?

Cent is a 1988 Lincoln Memorial
Condition is a little dirty, but detail is Fine to Extra Fine.

Thoughts?
 

Attachments

  • 1988 Wide AM Reverse.jpg
    1988 Wide AM Reverse.jpg
    66.2 KB · Views: 550
  • WideAm1988.jpg
    WideAm1988.jpg
    28 KB · Views: 546

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,384
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Sorry to tell you this, but all 1988s are wide AM. This was the normal reverse on all cents until 1993, when the reverse was change. After this the wide AM was only used for proofs. Hope this helps. Keep looking!
HH
Gilbert
 

OP
OP
Groovedymond

Groovedymond

Sr. Member
May 23, 2006
299
11
Salem, NH
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter - QuickSilver
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thank you for the information! Like I said, I wasn't sure if this was really good, or just ordinary that I hadn't noticed before!

Back in the piggy bank it goes!

Thanks again!
 

The_Griffyn

Full Member
Jan 5, 2010
100
14
Alaska
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTI 2500, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Minelab SDC 2300, Minelab GM 1000
I've been through about $200 dollars worth of cents in the past 2 weeks. Not a single AM error to be found. Thought I had found a 1999 at one point but it was not to be. Good luck in your quest Sir.


-TG-
 

AU24K

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
14,562
11,919
Where good deeds are performed daily
Detector(s) used
Garrett Fortune Hunter, White's CoinMaster, Garrett American S3, Compass Coin Magnum and a couple of others you will only find in museums!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I just finished 2 boxes of pennies and snagged 3 1998-P wide AM!
Gotta love CRHing!!!

Scott
 

GPURS

Hero Member
Apr 18, 2007
687
3
N.E. of Atlanta
Groovey, to make life a little easier, you primarily want to check the 98,99, and 00 for the wide AM. Also, you can check the 92 and 92D for close AM :thumbsup:.. Good luck to you, Gpurs..
 

bigwater

Full Member
Jan 3, 2010
210
4
Detector(s) used
White's GMT
What are the chances of finding these in the wild? I've got a five gallon pickle jar that's over half full of pennies. Don't know exactly how many pennies are in 2-1/2 gallons... but it's a bunch.
 

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,384
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
bigwater said:
What are the chances of finding these in the wild? I've got a five gallon pickle jar that's over half full of pennies. Don't know exactly how many pennies are in 2-1/2 gallons... but it's a bunch.
I would say your odds are good of finding a 98 or 2000. 1999, now that's a different matter. I've been searching for these 10 years and found only one 1999.
HH
Gilbert
 

The_Griffyn

Full Member
Jan 5, 2010
100
14
Alaska
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTI 2500, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Minelab SDC 2300, Minelab GM 1000
What's the current values for these errors? Anyone know?
 

The_Griffyn

Full Member
Jan 5, 2010
100
14
Alaska
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTI 2500, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Minelab SDC 2300, Minelab GM 1000
Thanks Big. No mention of the 1992 though. Wonder why.
 

bigwater

Full Member
Jan 3, 2010
210
4
Detector(s) used
White's GMT
From a thread I found over at Coin Talk discussing the 1992 close AM
I think he said that he had the 1992-D---So the value is from, $900 to $4,000-- the no mint mark is from ---$5,000 to $10,000.
It apppears that there are only two known 92 Philadelphia's around, and only 15 D's, so they're pretty rare indeed.

I made it through two gallons of the pennies that I have in the pickle jug. Still have half a gallon to go. Started sorting them Thursday night. I've got a 7x magnifying head set so it went pretty fast. All I was looking for was '92, '98, '99 and 2000. I was just about ready to go to bed for the night around the tenth handfull into it, but then I hit a '98 WAM, no mistaking it... and I got pumped and kept going. About two hours later I hit another unmistakable '98 WAM and the adrenaline really started surging. About 6:30 in the morning I hit what I thought was a '92 Philadelphia CAM and about came out of my seat. Spent the next two hours studying the thing, and I'm not convinced it is a CAM. While the AM are touching, the A doesn't have the wide seriff at the bottom of the left leg, and the designer's initials are too close to the base of the monument for it to be a true CAM. It's still an unusal coin however and something I'm going to have to have somebody more knowledgable than myself look at before I can be sure.
 

shanegalang

Bronze Member
Oct 31, 2007
1,379
641
Island of Mozambique
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, X 35 coil, 11" LF coil, Deteknix headphones with WS4 puck, Fiskars steel D-Handle Transplanting Spade
Primary Interest:
Other
bigwater said:
From a thread I found over at Coin Talk discussing the 1992 close AM
I think he said that he had the 1992-D---So the value is from, $900 to $4,000-- the no mint mark is from ---$5,000 to $10,000.
It apppears that there are only two known 92 Philadelphia's around, and only 15 D's, so they're pretty rare indeed.

I made it through two gallons of the pennies that I have in the pickle jug. Still have half a gallon to go. Started sorting them Thursday night. I've got a 7x magnifying head set so it went pretty fast. All I was looking for was '92, '98, '99 and 2000. I was just about ready to go to bed for the night around the tenth handfull into it, but then I hit a '98 WAM, no mistaking it... and I got pumped and kept going. About two hours later I hit another unmistakable '98 WAM and the adrenaline really started surging. About 6:30 in the morning I hit what I thought was a '92 Philadelphia CAM and about came out of my seat. Spent the next two hours studying the thing, and I'm not convinced it is a CAM. While the AM are touching, the A doesn't have the wide seriff at the bottom of the left leg, and the designer's initials are too close to the base of the monument for it to be a true CAM. It's still an unusal coin however and something I'm going to have to have somebody more knowledgable than myself look at before I can be sure.
I would also be looking for wheat cents if going thru all those. There are errors worth lots of money on wheats. Not to mention they are relatively valuable themselves.
 

bigwater

Full Member
Jan 3, 2010
210
4
Detector(s) used
White's GMT
Wheats never make it to that penny jar. I do scan my change that much. On the occasion I still get one as change they end up in a box in a drawer. I probably have 200 of them, but none worth anything more than 6 cents (1925) other than a 1914D which ought to be worth over $100. I'm not sure how much it's worth though because it's in pretty rough shape. It was well circulated before I found it in my pocket change.
 

dfx willy

Bronze Member
Nov 7, 2008
2,237
23
you found a 14d in your pocket change? chances are very slim. so great find. alls i need in my collection is the 14d and the 1909s vdb so congrats. willy
 

bigwater

Full Member
Jan 3, 2010
210
4
Detector(s) used
White's GMT
It was about 40 some odd years ago when I found it, only about 10 years or so after the last wheats were made. Wheats were still common and not worth anything other than a penny. I was just a kid, and I guess I'm lucky that it didn't end up getting spent on bubble gum. After all, you could buy five pieces of bubble gum for a penny back then. My granddaddy had told me to keep the wheats though, so I saved it. It was probably 20 years later that I realized it was a coin that might have some value. I'll try to take a picture of it later today and post it up here.
 

bigwater

Full Member
Jan 3, 2010
210
4
Detector(s) used
White's GMT
Here's the best pics I could get. The first one is the 14D, the second one is the two 98 WAM's I found digging through the jug, and the last one is the suspicious 92 CAM. I took about 30 pics trying to get a decent one, but the macro mode sort of sucks on my camera.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0659.JPG
    IMG_0659.JPG
    45 KB · Views: 310
  • IMG_0661.JPG
    IMG_0661.JPG
    48.5 KB · Views: 308
  • IMG_0660.JPG
    IMG_0660.JPG
    53.6 KB · Views: 319

shanegalang

Bronze Member
Oct 31, 2007
1,379
641
Island of Mozambique
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, X 35 coil, 11" LF coil, Deteknix headphones with WS4 puck, Fiskars steel D-Handle Transplanting Spade
Primary Interest:
Other
bigwater said:
Here's the best pics I could get. The first one is the 14D, the second one is the two 98 WAM's I found digging through the jug, and the last one is the suspicious 92 CAM. I took about 30 pics trying to get a decent one, but the macro mode sort of sucks on my camera.
That 14D will bring at least 100 bucks, probably more judging from the picture. Nice! :thumbsup:
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top