I'm sure it must be plated, but with what? My knowledge of chemistry is rather outdated, but I assume one can't plate cents with the same 'manganese brass' alloy used for dollars. I find it hard to imagine anyone would gold plate a cent. Any ideas? It appears to have "mint luster" so I wouldn't think paint could create that effect (but my knowledge of paint may be outdated, too).
Zinc planchets end up dropping into the molten copper used to bathe the planchets. When they melt, they mix with the copper and produce brass, which is yellowish. Not all too uncommon, and most have given up on spending premium money on them.
I personally have no use for them - I'm colorblind and cannot tell the difference. You could sit them next to each other and they look exactly alike to me.
It also could be gold plated. Many coins are as novelties. You see a lot of gold , silver and supposedly platinum plated ,(destroyed) coins being sold on the TV coin shows.
There is less than 20 cents worth of gold on the average gold plated cent.
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use