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 Replies: 26 / Views: 12,375 |
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New Member
 United States
12 Posts |
It is a slight attraction. However I am still able to lift the coin with a little distance 1mm from the magnet. I can almost pull the coin around with the magnet however it breaks off quite often.
I found a scale at work today I'll see if I can weigh it before I start work tomorrow around 3. It weighs in oz. accurate enough to weigh a paper dollar bill. I'll get back to you in about 16-17 hrs with a weight. Maybe sooner if my professor has a scale.
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Moderator
 Australia
16851 Posts |
A neodymium or other rare earth magnet is usually extremely powerful; you see magnetic effects with these magnets that are beyond the "normal, everyday" experience of magnetism. If the coin is plated with iron or, more likely, nickel, then the magnet is easily powerful enough to pick up the coin on the attraction of the plating alone. I have some tokens which I know are nickel-plated brass; a neodymium magnet can pick them up easily.
The other test is this: get another magnet, one that you know is much weaker - one of those thin metallized-plastic magnets stuck to the refrigerator, for example. Again, compare the forces of your mystery coin and of a "normal" piece of iron the same size (like an actual 1943 steel cent). A much weaker magnet would barely stick to a nickel-plating.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
OK weakly attacted. Then what you have is a nickel plated cent. Pure nickel is highly magnetic, but the thin plating means there just isn't enough "meat" there for the magnet to really grab onto. With a weaker magnet you could probably detect the attraction, and it might be able to slowly drag it around on a flat smooth surface, but probably not be able to lift it. The rare earth magnet is very strong and can hang onto it better but the attraction is still weak. If it had been steel or pure nickel the coin would jump to even a weaker magnet and it would hard to pull away from a rare earth magnet. (nickel alloys lose their magnetic properties when the percentage of alloy rises above about 12%. Most copper nickel coinage alloys are over 60% alloy.)
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
The penny weighs about 4 grams. The scale doesn't do tenths of a gram -_-
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
Hmmm...  That seems to be too heavy to be a plated copper cent. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
Copper cents are 3.11g with a percentage of error, if plated it could be over 3.5 grams and OP's scale rounds up.  These two coins are bright & shiny, the one on the left is coated with a chrome/steel mix and is very magnetic, the right 45 is most likely a softened nickel base coating and is only slightly magnetic |
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
Posting from a computer this time. Ok, so I got my science professor to lend me their scale. (Guessing it would be more accurate than my pinewood derby scale at home.)  Unusually It weighed 3.1 grams.  Out of speculation between my two measurements I decided to weigh something you might have to compare my accuracy. (I believe my scale at home weighs up even if it is .1g up which is why the previous weight was 4g) To double check all measurements I removed the item being measured reset the scale and weighed them again. Same result for the 3 trials. If it was plated how could it weigh the same & still be magnetic  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Coins have tolerance ranges for production. A regular copper cent can weigh anywhere from 2.98 grams to 3.21 grams withthe mint shooting for 3.1 grams. A typical plating will add about .05 grams to the coin. The scale you are showing is accurate to one decimal point so if the cent has just slightly below the target weight of 3.1 grams say 3.07 grams and you add a .05 gram plating it would weigh 3.13 grams and the scale rounds that to 3.1. But the coin would still be attracted to the magnet.
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
So without damaging the coin is there a way to test if it is plated?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
At this point, I don't think there's a need to confirm the plating with a test. The new weight highly suggests a plated copper cent. That would not be uncommon but, I'm glad you approached it in this way without making too many assumptions.  In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3463 Posts |
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New Member
Canada
13 Posts |
it is surely like a good luck charm
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
I found a "silver" 65 also, years ago. Just found it again in one of my old albums. Put it on the scale and it came up as 3.16g. Also, like yours, it's slightly magnetic - using a cheap refrigerator magnet. It's bittersweet to know there's another one out there, but better to have the insight than a false hope of holding something extraordinary.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Kids in schools everywhere are plating coins with almost anything. This is all your coin is. Just a plated coin. One sure proof would be to melt it down to base metal and if it's Copper, then you only ruined a normal coin. If in fact it turned out to be a rare coin of some sort, well then to late.   |
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Moderator
United States
189434 Posts |
 to the Community, Dubs78! |
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Posted 04/17/2017 11:29 pm
