Although “No FG” (designer Frank Gasparro’s initials) and “floating roof” of the Lincoln Memorial cent can be found on other dates, especially 1969-S and 1970-S cents, error enthusiasts should focus on the 1969-D cent, which has the highest premium along with an error designation, now being phased out, on the PCGS CoinFacts website.
Cherry Pickers’ Guide used to include this as an error but later dropped it from later editions.
I disagree with PCGS phasing out the error and Cherry Pickers’ dropping it. Here’s why: 1969-D Floating Roof is an over polished die, and historically, these have been errors as in the 1922-D missing mintmark and the 3-legged 1937-D nickel. The difference between the 1969-D floating roof and other dates concerns polishing v. die deterioration. That’s why the 1969-D is collectible.
Let’s start with diagnostics so you know where to look if you are searching for this variety.
Compare reverses of a regular strike vs. the FS-901 variety above. (By the way, the “FS” stands for Fivaz-Stanton, surnames of Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton, authors of Cherrypickers’ Guide To Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins):
1969-D “No FG” Lincoln cent, graded MS-66 RD (PCGS)
The 1969-D No “FG”/Floating Roof is fairly common and can be found in pocket change. PCGS has holdered fewer than 50 retailing for less than $100 in low mint state and up to $500 in MS65.
Another “floating” cent–in this time, floating “head”–can be found in the 2019 cent. Again, over polishing caused this error. Top third-party graders do not holder this error, but ICG does:
Don’t be fooled by the extravagant prices being asked for on eBay for “floating roof” cents–with or without the “FG” initials. Here’s an ugly one that even has faint worn initials going for almost $2,000.
As always with eBay, check the “sold” link for floating roofs. (To find the “sold” link, look on the lower left side of the page, as in this screenshot showing how much “floating roof” cents actually sell for on the platform.)
If you are interested in error coins, also see Proxiblog’s “Errors Worth Searching” article. As we have mentioned here before, you stand virtually no chance of finding ultra rare errors like the 1943 copper cent, the 1944 steel cent or the 1982-D Small Date 3.1 gram transitional error.
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