1902 Indian Head Cent On Venezuelan (?) Planchet

No, you cannot compare a modern Lincoln Cent to an Indian Head cent because the rims are indeed quite different. IHCs have a broad dentilated rim while Lincolns have a thin rim with no denticles.

Well, if it is 18 mm wide, that means 1.0 mm has been taken from the circumference divided by 2 to calculate the amount dissolved from one side = .50mm. A IHC is 1.5 mm thick. If you assume acid dissolve all surfaces evenly (.5mm on the obverse, reverse, and edges) the cent should be approximately .5 mm thick assuming it was dipped before any major circulation occurred. This would mean roughly 2/3 of the coin was dissolved by weight which would leave a coin weighing roughly 1.0 grams. Judging by the pics and looking at weights (.9 grams) and measurements (18 mm) this looks logical. I hope it is a rare find though. The logic seems to make sense unless I am off in my thinking? As said earlier, an XRF tester would be definitive.

The coin was acid treated. It is amazing how often acid dipped coins appear in these forums. They all have the same appearance. Thin, mushy detail, porous fields from the etching and slightly smaller diameters. There must be thousands of these out there, usually the owner thinks their struck on foreign or thin planchets and have a hard time accepting that they are acid treated but eventually come around.

The coin in the beginning of this thread is unquestionably acid treated. As mentioned many times, acid erodes metal EQUALLY, so that the coin will be much thinner, but will retain the detail it was struck with.

If you send this coin into any TPG for grading it will come back as "environmental/chemical damage", it is not a slabbable coin, nor is it an error, simply damaged by having sat in acid.

1902 is one of the most common Indian Head cents, so it is in no way unusual that your coin is the same date. Certainly post pictures for an accurate opinion of your coin, but acid on a coin often reduces all surfaces evenly, which may leave corners and devices intact but reduced in size. Welcome to the forum!

I put it in a Dime 2x2 yesterday. It fits perfectly. Going with the Acid Theory on this 1902. Why would the circumference be reduced down to dime size but the images remain all in tact. I have quite a bit of real world experience with metals. I found another 1902 indian head on Pinterest just today when I was looking for something to compare it to. I really cant find another year indian head that has this issue so far just 1902. I will take some pics when I get home.