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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,497 |
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New Member
United States
46 Posts |
i do a little metal detecting when possible. I have noticed the corrosion of newer LMC's. I weighted a few of the the real bad coins and have found that they lose about 1% of weight per year. I based this on the dates of the coins and assumed they were lost the year they were minted. not very accurate but if I bury my penny hoard, i'll be broke in 100 years. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2295 Posts |
Yeah, the zincolns tend to corrode much faster than the old coppers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2651 Posts |
I do a little MD'ing as well. I have found some 2008's that are almost completely rotted (at least half). But I bet if you put a dollar bill underground it will last alot less!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Degradable yes, bio-degradable no. Bio-Degradable means they are being broken down by a living organism, the rotting of the zinc cents is simple electro-chemical corrosion.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
If they lose 1% of their weight each year, they won't be completely gone in 100 years. 1% annual loss gives them a half-life of about 69 years. They'll only be about 73% gone after a century.
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
But in his defense, if each cent is 73% gone, he would still be broke because no one would want the rotting corpses.  |
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Valued Member
United States
318 Posts |
We should just use corn kernels as pennies. You can plant 'em, pop 'em, or smash them into flour. At least then they would have a value.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5604 Posts |
I understand there is a cost for everything, especially our income, LOL, However the fact remains, the coins of days gone bye are some of the finest, brilliantly designed artwork which We will probably never see the likes of again.
I wish the coins of today were of the same content of the older coins, but it would seem the costs of this would prohibit any thoughts of the idea, I feel either knowingly or not, the older coins content originally were done correctly, meaning they would last much longer than the coins of today, which I do NOT think any thought was given to the lasting ability at all, just the cost per coin for today, what a shame, oh well!!!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Degradable yes, bio-degradable no. Bio-Degradable means they are being broken down by a living organism, the rotting of the zinc cents is simple electro-chemical corrosion.
However, that is a decent idea. With all the talk lately about going green, think of it. Our coins made of something that is bio-degradable. You drop a coin in the dirt, can't find it, so who cares since it will just turn back into dirt. You forget a pile of change in a pocket, throw the cloths in a washing machine, the cloths still come out clean, no bouncing noises inside the machine, and no dented, scratched coins either. Of course no coins but again so what, just some water that could be used for fertilizer. With all the discussions about changing the material of our coinage, someone should recommend that. And the Mint would not have to order materials, they could just grow more.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1358 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
462 Posts |
But if we let coins disintegrate in the wash that means none of them will make it to the dryer and then we'd miss out on all of those "I have an amazing find" posts where it's just a coin stuck in a dryer too long.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Run from your car through the rain into the store, and when you get to the cash register you find that all your change is dissolving. So you use all paper and get back a handful of soggy dissolving coins from the last guy that came through.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
1% annual loss gives them a half-life of about 69 years. They'll only be about 73% gone after a century. 63.4% |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,497 |
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Posted 02/16/2012 11:19 am
