Originally Posted by
guiderock
It appears that your penny, is not so much worn, but was made FROM very worn obverse dies which were still in use long after their intended shelf life. As I understand it, every time a die strikes a coin there is a bit of wear on the inside of the letters and numbers at metal from the planchlet is forced into those tiny nooks and crannies. Over time, that tend to make those niches bigger, making the legend and date appear 'fat'. A secondary issue - also involving metal-flow - is responsible for the "T" in the upper legend looking like a "Y". Dies are designed so that when they strike a blank, metal on the surface of the planchlet is forced from the center to the edge of the coin. Otherwise there would be areas of detail that would come up missing, because the metal couldn't flow into them properly. Copper from the center of each cent blank is forced - not only INTO the "T" of "TRUST", but is also moving toward the rim of the coin at a fair velocity, wearing out the ends of the "T" cut into the die, just a little bit each time. If you let the die wear long enough, the crossbar will begin to turn upward, and again look 'fat'. I could also be completely wrong and this could be a little known double-die proof 1951 Lincoln cent, which somehow made it into circulation and became worn. It is the only known 'double-die' error for this date/mint, but it really doesn't seem to carry any of the earmarks of that particular error, in my humble opinion. Thanks for sharing the scans anyway. It certainly qualifies as 'weird.'