1998-S 1C Close AM, DCAM PR69DCAM 认证号47023394, PCGS号93529

This is the AM in AMERICA on the reverse design identified as LMRD-007 which was introduced in 1993. There is virtually no separation between the bottoms of the A and M in AMERICA. It has frequently been referred to as the “Close AM” reverse. Like all of the previous Lincoln Memorial reverse designs, LMRD-007 was used in 1993 for both the circulation strike cents and for the proof strike cents. However, in 1994 the Mint decided that it would no longer use LMRD-007 for the proof cents and reserved that design for the circulation strike cents struck from 1994 through 2008. For the proof cents, the Mint went back to the LMRD-006 design. LMRD-006 was then used for the proof cents struck from 1994 through 2008. This set the stage for the discovery by Maximillian Lucas of a 2000 circulation strike Lincoln cent with the LMRD-006 proof design. Because the easiest way to spot the proof design on the circulation strike coins was the separation between the bottoms of the A and M in AMERICA, it quickly became known as the 2000 "Wide AM" Lincoln cent variety. The normal 2000 circulation strike coins were referred to as the "Close AM" variety. The find quickly sent collectors hunting through their Lincoln Memorial cents for this variety, and possibly for similar varieties on other dates. It didn't take long for examples to turn up on 1998 dated Lincoln Memorial cents and also on 1999 dated Lincoln Memorial cents. In the Wexler Die Variety Files we have maintained a file on the different working dies affected for those years. Our purpose in doing so was simply to get an idea of how scarce the varieties were for each of the three years (1998, 1999, and 2000). To date we have 31 different circulation strike working dies identified for the 1998 "Wide AM" cents, 4 different circulation strike working dies identified for the 1999 "Wide AM" cents, and 23 different circulation strike working dies identified for the 2000 "Wide AM" cents. Clearly the 1999 "Wide AM" cents are the most difficult to find and command the greatest premiums. To make things even more interesting, over a period of time collectors eventually found 1998-S and 1999-S proof cents with the circulation strike "Close AM" design. Only 1 working die for each has been identified making them extremely rare since the average life of a Lincoln cent proof die is about 3,000 coins.

Jaime Hernandez

The 1998-S Proof Close AM Lincoln cent was accidentally struck with a Mint State die.

All Proof Lincoln Cents issued from 1993 to 2009 should have the AM of America separated from one another. However, some proof 1998 and 1999 examples have been found with the letters AM of America Close to each other or almost touching, which indicates that it was struck with a mint state die.

There are less than 100 examples known and the variety can also be seen with the naked eye. Any example of this variety in any grade will command hundreds of dollars and up to thousands of dollars in high PR69 Deep Cameo condition. As of 2009, there are no PCGS PR70 Deep Cameo coins known with this variety, despite there being dozens of regular 1998-S cents graded in PR70 Deep Cameo.