Possible clash error?

[Bushido Dude]

I don't typically put "possible coin errors" up on this forum since...well....you know the famous saying......"opinions are like a certain anatomy, everyone has one" ......but i figured this might make a few people think outside of the box for a few seconds. I was doing my typical pocket change search today and came across a 1972 penny....no big deal....checked for any die doubling...none present....typical start......but then I noticed something strange about the coin.......along the rim there is what seems to be reversed lettering....upon further examination i SWEAR that i see "UNUM" reversed on the rim next to the date and "NITED STATES" reversed on the rim next to the Liberty on the OBV side of the coin......tell me what you think.....is this one of those strange MAD clash errors?

 

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[l.cutler]

Something there but definitely not a die clash. A clash generally shows up on the high points of the die, which are the low points, the fields, of the coin. Unum is not on the edge of the reverse opposite United States either, so it couldn't happen that way. I believe it is post mint damage, someone may have hammered two cents together. Does any damage show on the reverse?

 

[Bushido Dude]

Nah the Rev looks normal to me.....The only reason i thought Mad clash error was i was going through different error websites trying to find SOMETHING similiar to this because I have never seen anything like it before and one site had a very similar looking error where reversed lettering was on the rim like that.....but then again how much can you trust on the internet haha.....and post mint damage would make sense...but man oh man it would take a good amount of force to make that lettering equally deep across the board and there seems to be no damage on the other side......either way it made my head turn for awhile haha

 

[Bushido Dude]

One question though......and I just realized this as sitting here and twisting my brain around this a little more.......if the lettering were to be stamped as a direct mirror image it wouldn't follow the curvature of the rim because since it is on the reverse and stamped down the lettering would be in a downward facing crescent and not upward facing following the rim.......understand what im trying to say?

 

[l.cutler]

Yeah, I follow, you are absolutely right, I didn't think of that! This would also hold true for the die clash so I guess neither answer is correct. I still believe post mint damage, something else pressed into it, or even random damage that coincidentally looks like lettering. Or possibly someone did it intentionally.

 

[l.cutler]

Ahah! I think I got it! Look at a Jefferson nickel reverse, if a cent is layed on the nickel the rim of the cent follows the legend on the nickel. The nickel also has the legend arranged as it is on your cent, with the Unum approximately across from the United States. This would also explain the damage on Lincoln.

 

[GopherDaGold]

Looks like it was squeezed with a needle-nose pliers. They could have cushioned the underside which explains why there are no marks there.