1914 (D) Lincoln Wheat Cent Improper Alloy Mix

Description

This 1914 (D) Lincoln Wheat cent exhibits an improper alloy mix, commonly known as a "woodgrain" or "woody" cent. The coin displays distinctive graining running northwest to southeast on the obverse and southwest to northeast on the reverse. This effect occurs when the copper and tin/zinc components of the bronze alloy are not thoroughly mixed during the ingot preparation process, creating visible streaks in the metal. The 1914-D is a key date with a mintage of only 1,193,000, making any error variety on this date particularly noteworthy.