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 Replies: 13 / Views: 2,914 |
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
ive had this cent for about 15 yrs, its a 1975 denvermint. its silver or aluminum in color. its a little lighter than a penny, and it makes a ringing sound when dropped on a table, compared to a normal pennies thud. its not a dime error, but I'm clueless on what it might be? any help?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Can you put up a pic Joe?
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
yes a picture would be helpful. just in case you can't. Is it a US coin? The D mint mark could be something else besides Denver. If it is....1975 has me baffled.
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New Member
 United States
5 Posts |
sorry no pictures right now, I'm at work. I'm going to the scale in the lab tonight to re weigh the cent, and compare to all the other pennies I brought to work. and yes its a us penny, lincoln on the front, memorial on the back. looks like any other us copper penny out there. I dont think its coated, but maybe?
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
ok I lied, here are the results from the scale
silver penny in question weighed 3.02
1979d-3.10
1959d-3.02
1976d-3.06
1976-3.13
so its about the same weight?
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Moderator
 Australia
16808 Posts |
It sounds like a plate job to me. Copper and bronze coins are fairly easy to plate. I have an Australian 2˘ that's "silver" in colour - I know it's a zinc-plate job because my Dad (a Chemistry lecturer at Uni) made it in a demonstration of electrochemical plating. It might fool a few people into thinking it's an Australian 10˘, but a zinc coating would quickly turn black in circulation.
Look for a little un-plated spot, probably somewhere on the rim, where an electrode might have been attached.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
ok ive got some pictures, but the file size is 133 and it says 90 is the biggest that will let me post. I could email the pictures if someone wants to resize and post them for me., please,lol
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Moderator
United States
6563 Posts |
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
actually I scratched the surface, and no copper was underneath? I checked it magnified.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
Possibly struck on a foreign planchet. If it's magnetic and weighs less than a normal cent it cannot be plated. From the image of the obverse it doesn't look plated anyway.
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
i have 2 wheaties that came out of a house fire and they look like steel cents.
a possibility ?
jeff
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Valued Member
United States
280 Posts |
Putting copper penny in Mercury will give it a silver color and not lose much detail as it forms an amalgam.
The aluminum pennies were dated 1974, right?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
1974 was the main year, but they also made some in 1975, trial pieces. I do not recall if there was a mintmark or where they were made. From what I remember, there are none known but two were reported missing. Both 1974 and 1975 Aluminum Cents are illegal to own, similiar to the 33 $20, and 64-D Peace.
This coin appears to shiny to be aluminum. And the aluminum cent should weigh considerably less.
Edited by jdheyne
04/27/2007 5:01 pm
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Valued Member
United States
214 Posts |
Wow, shouldn't have scratched it! You could have sent it to NGC. Sure, there is cost involved, if it comes back with a body bag receipt, but we all have to learn from the experts sometimes.
If it came back on wrong planchet or wrong metal then it would be well worth the cost and effort.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 2,914 |
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Posted 04/22/2007 01:10 am
