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 Replies: 89 / Views: 30,471 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Dipping won't impart a silver look to copper - quite the opposite. Imagine a hideous, cartoonish caricature of "original Mint red" and you'll get the idea. An apt analogy would be if you'd flayed the first few layers of your own skin off - you'd look "raw" too, but the color wouldn't be much different.
Occam's Razor says my money remains on plating as the culprit. The same test means counterfeiting is the second choice - smart counterfeiters duplicate the cheap, circulating issues for easy turnover at the cost of immediate profit. And the fact that you're smart enough to choose the right coin doesn't mean you're smart enough to choose the right material - 50 years ago, this thing could have been copper-colored. Following would be an off-planchet strike - the Mint produced large numbers of coins for other countries, even during this period - and if the composition ends up as German Silver (~60% copper, 20% nickel, 20% zinc - you're gonna see my ears perk straight up.
The remotest possibility is that this was a test strike which somehow found its' way into the wild. If that's the case, of course, people will hand you blank checks for the coin but let's not exactly....expect that outcome.
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New Member
 United States
23 Posts |
I am almost annoyed with it.Probably would have been easier if someone to see or hold it in person said "yep its plated or fake" but I am not getting that so I find someone else that also leads me to the next person.If it was worthless either way I would cut it half with some dura-sheers and be done with it ..lol
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New Member
United States
23 Posts |
I did not head out early this morning with the idea I would prove it was real.I kind of went out trying to prove it was plated or copper
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Well, cutting it in half would either prove that it was plated, and worthless, or that it was potentially (as in, before you cut it) able to fund your retirement.  I'm sorry - this ain't that easy. It won't be, even if you can provide professional-level images. 99-1 says it's worthless, but this specific coin with this specific date and this specific "look" makes that a viable 1% (I'm exaggerating - more like 999-1). Me? I know enough about this stuff to probably arbitrarily decide it's plated and therefore lose out on a universe of potential. I hope you don't, but be aware my motives are not completely altruistic. I'm a Moderator here, my commitment to the quality of the community is obvious, and I'm pursuing this partly for your sake and partly for the sake of the (roughly 10-1 ratio) readers who never post in the thread but learn from it. Education is happening here, and you're helping. I'll give you this much: If the first step pans out to the coin being a known alloy used in that decade, the worst you'll ever have is a really interesting coin. I know of no contemporary counterfeit WW2 Cents. My guess is it won't cost a lot more than time to make that determination. And even if it's plated, you got to sponsor a really interesting thread at Coin Community. |
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New Member
United States
23 Posts |
Very true!Being new to this you guys have been a big help.Now I am educating myself by reading tons of these forums and learning about a possibly new and exciting hobby.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Would I be out of line to suggest a TPG? Worst that could happen there is it comes back in a body bag and we get to continue figuring out he this piece came to be. |
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Valued Member
United States
203 Posts |
I would also send to a TPG just to see what they say. If you have a good relationship with a dealer, maybe see if you can send it in with some of his coins. From looking at it, if it is plated, it is the best plating job I have ever seen. Nothing looks filled and it looks like a normal 1941 penny, other than the color. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
Archimedes solved this problem a long time ago! Drop the coin in a graduated cylinder and see how much the water rises. We can then use the weight and volume to find the base metal.
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New Member
United States
23 Posts |
What is the top or best TPG service should I use for this ? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
oldskool is correct specific gravity will answer your question...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Per SsuperDdave PCGS, NGC and ANACS. I would follow his advice on which specific one.
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New Member
United States
23 Posts |
I will look into PCGS first.I took a 2001 penny lightly filed the plating off to show the zinc core.I am shocked the idea of a "high school science class pre 1970" being able to hold mercury or zinc to penny better then the US mint can plate them.My coin would have seriously had to have been plated over and over and over again then finely detailed.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
The electroplating process has been known for two centuries - a good case is to be made for the Parthian Battery almost two thousand years before - and it's been a science-class trick for at least a hundred years. I lean away from direct submission to a TPG. Although I'd assume they would have the equipment to correctly measure composition, I'm not so sure they'd have the motivation to pursue the project. They're there to make money, and a grading fee would not cover their effort in this case. A Specific Gravity test would work, as long as you had equipment sophisticated enough to measure the minute differences in displacement....and assuming you knew the precise SG of all known alloys. I'm not sure a single individual could afford equipment on that level. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
965 Posts |
GET THIS SLABBED. It is so hard to tell what this is from the pictures, its not that your pictures are bad as much as this coin could make you VERY wealthy. I woould get this authenticated by a TPG. I've had the best results from ANACS,and they are relatively easy to deal with, but that doesn't mean you couldn't send the coin to PCGS. I don't like NGC because I've had coins accidentally slabbed in the wrong holder. My G4 coin was graded Au 50. As funny as that sounds, it made me really mad  All in all, a TPG is the only way you could authenticate that this is worth BIG money, and I really hope it is  |
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CCF Sponsor
United States
702 Posts |
An alternative to slabbing: see if there's a large coin show nearby and see if you can find a Lincoln expert there...?
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Replies: 89 / Views: 30,471 |
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Posted 07/18/2012 12:28 am
