1950 Wheat Penny Weighs 2.78 Grams - Coin Community Forum

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Found this a few hours ago and I've been puzzling it over since. It is a 1950 (P) Wheat penny, and it weighs in at a total of 2.78 grams, which is a fair bit outside of tolerance as I understand it. It doesn't appear to have corrosion damage (or other significant damage for that matter other than a small chip out of the rim on the reverse) that could account for the weight loss. Stacked beside another healthy penny of the same year they are the same height and circumference (maybe a tiny bit thinner but not that I can see with the naked eye.) I have spent the last couple of hours scouring the internet on my phone for information about underweight pennies from 1950 but all it keeps bringing up is the 1944 steel penny. Please, what am I looking at here? Not necessarily value hunting, I just want to know.

The normal underweight Lincoln posted on here has obvious acid damage. Yours does not. That's all I've got. Others will chime in!

Is there a list of years that the Philly mint minted coins for foreign Nations? If any of those coins were copper and similar in weight? But that's a big long "rabbit hole" to go down.....Just a thought...

How about it just being as simple as the coin blank sheet was rolled too thin to begin with? And all the blanks punched from it were undersized.

Because I'd rather chase down the complicated option and find out it's not that, than take the lazy way out and never discover what it actually is. Maybe it is just a thin planchet. Except its the same thickness as every other 1950 Wheat penny in my stash.

Edited by Yorkish
01/18/2021 11:26 pm

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Great post/ question..
I have tried to replicate different types of damage on pennies. Sometimes I think I get pretty close, other times I have to throw them away. Of all of the things I have tried using Acids was the biggest trip. In a matter of minutes I was able to reduce a 3.1g healthy penny down to under 2 grams. But there would be noticeable, more likely though severe damage. Finally to unrecognizable state.
I do not believe yours was introduced to acid, it still looks too good. That being said is about all I have to contribute.
Hopefully you will get an acceptable response from one or more of our forum studs..

I suggest you look here. 69 page pdf on foreign minted at US mints.

https://minterrornews.com/news-5-13...he_mint.html

Did a word find through the pdf shows only one 1950 copper foreign coin and its to big. But there are lots in 1949. Phil mint made the 5 Centimes for Haiti with diameter of 19.9 mm and weight of 2.75 g. That's very close to a Wheat penny and also your weight.

Edited by sheldius
01/19/2021 12:14 am

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Interesting, has me stumped. My first impression is that it's a fake coin but perhaps it could be from different stock, Philadelphia was making foreign coins at that time, although I can't imagine a copper alloy weighing that much different. You'd have to get it scanned to see what kind of metal it is. My first impression is that it is a fake coin, but I can't tell you. Very interesting, I look forward to seeing what other people say.

Sheldius I was literally just looking at the Haiti 5 Centimes lol good thought! The biggest issue with that one is that it is copper-nickel and appears much more silver in color than this coin, but without one in my hand I can't really say for sure. I guess I'm probably just going to have to have it scanned to know for sure. Now to locate somebody nearby with the capability. This is probably nothing, and I'm ok with that. I'd rather just know and have a physical example so I can learn to spot or avoid it in the wild dependant on whether it is worth saving.

Edited by Yorkish
01/19/2021 12:34 am

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Quote:
I'd rather chase down the complicated option and find out it's not that, than take the lazy way out and never discover what it actually is

Well @Yorkie, did you ever find out what it actually was?

Still trying to locate someone with an xrf scanner close enough for me to drive to lol I love in an extremely rural area, there's not much nearby for business in general, let alone someone who would use an xrf scanner on the regular. Any suggestions?

Edited by Yorkish
01/29/2021 12:40 am

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No, All I can think of is some pawn shops have them XRF scanners and I'm sure jewelry stores that buy used jewelry would use them. What is a CEF scanner or is that the same thing?

Edit: Just thought maybe scrap yards would use them too, but not real sure

Edited by Rothery
01/28/2021 6:55 pm

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Have you tried weighing this on a different scale?

Could be a rolled thin planchet. What made you weigh it?

@Rothery I meant to type XRF scanner, but my autocorrect must have picked it up and changed it lol I've fixed it though.

I have weighed it on 2 different scales, and made sure they were calibrated correctly. I was just weighing some of my wheaties just because I was bored, covid 19 does strange things to people doesn't it lol I had considered a thin planchet of course but it doesn't appear thin stacked next to other pennies, and the devices are very crisp for a circulated wheatie.

Edit: in case anyone is wondering, I am well versed in the use of scales. Especially for fine weights.

Edited by Yorkish
01/29/2021 12:42 am

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i hope you found a rare one keep us informed on what you find out

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