CoinTalk members doubt a photographed 1959-D wheat-reverse cent is genuine

This article describes a thread on the CoinTalk coin forum. The source does not show when the posts were made. What follows is what individual members wrote; it has not been independently confirmed. As of the thread, the coin had not been determined to be genuine or fake.

A photo from another forum

CoinTalk member SensibleSal66 shared a photo of a cent first seen on another forum. It is dated 1959-D and has the wheat reverse. According to SensibleSal66, the owner was having it looked at by professionals and said there are "no seams to speak of."

Member Barney McRae asked whether any coins were known to have been struck that year with the wheat reverse. SensibleSal66 replied, "Supposedly just one," citing an article title from a U.S. coin guide website.

Doubts about the coin

-jeffB wrote that he thought a couple of similar pieces had turned up a few years ago and were eventually determined to be recent fakes, phrasing it as a question.

KBBPLL said he had the feeling the coin was made from a laser-etched die. He said the strange crosshatch in the wheat could be an artifact of the image, but noted that he did not see it elsewhere in the photo or on the obverse, and pointed to an odd pimple on the left one. He recalled a post on a Canadian forum many years ago about an 1881 or 1882 cent that fooled ICCS graders but had the wrong obverse or something, and showed similar fine parallel lines. He also wrote that he does not really know the laser-etching process.

SensibleSal66 later reported hearing that the owner was trying ANACS for authentication, and said his own guess was that it would be found to be a copy, "a good one at that." KBBPLL wrote that he did not expect ANACS to authenticate it and linked to a PCGS news article (https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-mystery-of-the-1959-d-mule-lincoln-cent).

What a book says about the known example

Publius2 cited Numismatic Forgery by Charles M. Larson (2004). According to Publius2, the book's introduction discusses the 1959-D wheat reverse mule publicized in a 2002 Coin World article, and that coin was never proved to be either genuine or a fake.

Publius2 wrote that Larson says an imprisoned forger, Mark Hoffman, claimed to have created the mule, and that Larson speculates Hoffman made the dies by electroplating. Publius2 added that other claims say the dies were made by spark erosion. He wrote that, as far as he knows, the Coin World example has been unique, so if this coin is a different one it would be the second to come to light. He said he doubts the coin will be authenticated.

Source: CoinTalk, "Cool find!! 1959D Wheat Cent...."