The Coin Look - Counterfeit Detection - 1914-D Lincoln Cent

Alterations made to look like the 1914-D, and other early "teens" coins do exist and show up more than anyone would like.

It can be done by adding a mintmark, but is also done by shaving down a 1944-D to look like a 1914-D.

The first picture below is a genuine 1914-D Lincoln Cent. Notice the spacing of the digits, as well as the inside shape of the D mintmark illustrated below.

The next two pictures are both altered coins from their 1940's counterpart.

With proper magnification, it is easy to see that the excess of the second 4 was shaved off to resemble a 1. Without properly inspecting a coin, it is somewhat easy to get fooled by this crude attempt at counterfeiting.