Who authenticates a new variety? 0

[Cjay stafford]

I'm curious to know who coins get sent to in order to be authenticated as a new variety and if something as miniscule as the elevation of this "4" is something of a variety.i seem to recall something I read about low number variety pennies 1970 I think

[Just Bob]

I don't think that could be an undiscovered variety, since the date is the same all 1974D cents. That is because the date was not punched into each die individually. To quote from Wexler: (italics mine)

"When the Janvier Reduction Lathe was introduced in 1907, the first two digits of the date began to appear on the galvano and thus on the master hubs.  This was done so that the master hub could be used to make master dies over a period of several years.  Starting with the Lincoln cents in 1909, the last two digits of the date were engraved into the master die for each year."

[Greenstang]

That looks like the 1974D Small Date Variety.

I don't think there is much difference in value although the Small Date is slightly harder to find.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Greenstang

[Just Bob]

6 minutes ago, Greenstang said:

That looks like the 1974D Small Date Variety

 

Oh, yeah. I had forgotten that there were two different master dies made for that year. I think both are common, though, aren't they?

[VKurtB]

When I look at those two side by side, I'm inclined to call them "thin date" and "fat date", or am I missing the point?

[James_OldeTowne]

Oh wow, I had completely forgotten about these!  Thanks for the memory!

[DWLange]

The transitional hubs of 1974 are illustrated on page 255 of my book The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents. The "Large Date" variety appears to have been created for use with the expected switchover to aluminum for the cents of that year and later. When this didn't come to pass, a new "Small Date" hub was introduced that continued in use for the next several years.

[RWB]

Various specialist individuals and groups do most of the variety attribution and authentication. The TPGs are expert at counterfeit detection.