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NV stamp on 1976 penny

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Joseph M. Ambrosio

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Nov 17, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/17/97
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All,

OK, here's one I couldn't find in the FAQ.

I came across an otherwise-ordinary 1976 penny with a small stamp on the
'head' side just above the date. The stamp is in the shape of the state
of Nevada, with the initials 'NV' stamped inside the outline.

Does anyone know why that would have been done? The only thing I could
think of was that it was somehow connected to Las Vegas, but I didn't
think they were interested in pennies there.

-- Joe Ambrosio


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Galen Brinson

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Nov 18, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/18/97
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I have 50 of them (one from each state) in a framed display. Just a neat
novelty.
--
Galen Brinson
ANA, CoinMasters

Joseph M. Ambrosio

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Nov 18, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/18/97
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Dr. Scott Demos wrote:

>
> It probably was a souvenier penny that came out of something someone bought
> while in Las Vegas. People stamp pennies with all sorts of junk from hearts to
> faces. They also could have done it for the Bicentenial in Nevada. I have seen
> them popular here in Illinois (land of lincoln) with this state on them. Its
> just worth about as much as a penny could be 0.
>

Thanks for the info. We have things like that along the New Jersey
Turnpike, but they flatten the penny out into an oblong shape before
stamping it. The sign on the machine says it is illegal to 'alter' U.S.
currency (?), but by flattening it out it is altered so much it can no
longer be considered currency and then somehow it is legal (???). But if
that is true, wouldn't the little NV stamp on the otherwise-ordinary
penny be illegal?

Anyway, I had never seen anything like that before and was just curious
...

-- Joe

Galen Brinson

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Nov 18, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/18/97
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I have a set of 50 (one from each state) in a frame. Just a nice novelty.
--
Galen Brinson

AnswerMan2

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Nov 19, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/19/97
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>>>> The sign on the machine says it is illegal to 'alter' U.S.
currency (?), but by flattening it out it is altered so much it can no
longer be considered currency and then somehow it is legal (???). But if
that is true, wouldn't the little NV stamp on the otherwise-ordinary
penny be illegal?

=====
The sign on the machine is wrong, as the law specifies that the only illegal
alteration is something done to change the date or mintmark. It has been legal
to make elongated coins , cut out coin jewelry and other similar alterations
since 1909.

The Nevada map was added to your coin after it left the mint, so it has at best
only a very minor collector value, as it is technically an alteration.

Alan Herbert - Contributing Editor, Numismatic Products - Krause Publications,
Inc.
"The world's largest hobby publisher"
answe...@aol.com || CTCU29A(Alan Herbert)@prodigy.com

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