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 Replies: 17 / Views: 4,201 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
I'm sure a million people thought they had an 1859 brass cent. This one is a different color and sounds different as well with a light drop. I'm really not sure and it seems impossible to be definitive. It seems more yellowish than normal. Scan is a little off-color. Maybe I just need someone to tell me I'm nuts! LOL I've since uploaded a photo that shows the actual color better.    Edited by steve123
05/07/2014 4:15 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2632 Posts |
Lots of them seem to look like that I have one the same. Maybe its the combination of metals used...950-copper .040-tin .010-zinc. I have no idea but wondered that myself.
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Moderator
 Canada
10458 Posts |
Colour alone is not a good criteria for determination of this variety...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2632 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
805 Posts |
That's what makes it so frustrating.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
Very rare! It would be quite a find! $30000 in VF according to Coinsandcanada.
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Rest in Peace
1988 Posts |
Looks like some one tried to clean it at one time...Maybe why it looks so light coloured..just my opinion.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Would a grading service be able to determine it (via XRF if nothing else)?
If so, and if you think you have one, mightn't it be worth the grading fee for a 30K coin?
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Moderator
Canada
10458 Posts |
I can test it on the XRF in my lab at work - if you want...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
1844 Posts |
The easiest way is to take a piece of glass and make a tiny scrape on the edge..Look at the underlying metal...Brass will be yellow the others orange.... You must use glass because it will not react with the brass... If you scrape it with other metal it will have a reaction....
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
FYI - the Krause catalog and Numista lists bronze for those years
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
SPP, that would be great. It more than likely isn't but what the heck! Can you PM me your address?
Thank you!
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
And the results are....  Bronze! At least it starts with "BR".  Thank you to SPP for testing and thanks to Fuzzy because I would have wondered why it was bronze and not copper. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
XRF testing is quite cheap and non destructive.
An X - ray is bounced off the surface of the metal and a fluorescence pattern is analyzed to give a quite accurate analysis of the proportion of the various metals in the surface of the alloy. Trace elements are easily identified.
I have seen such equipment in use at a coin show to identify fake coins.
Nevertheless I would think this is a bronze coin despite the yellow color, and is maybe the result of the environment in which it has been for quite some time, probably years.
Some Chinese struck 10 cash coins of the early 20th century were nominally bronze, but were often struck in brass copper or bronze. In this case the variation in alloy is of little importance.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
I've been looking at my cent duplicates and have noticed that some are yellower and some are more chocolate-y. I think heat and sunrays might play into the colour changes. That and cleaning with acids, growlie :(
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
I'm not sure but I think some are mostly copper and the bronze ones are copper and tin. I think the 1859's are a lifetime study group in themselves...  ... I like them for that reason. I never get bored trying to figure them out! I enjoy the vickycents.com]site. More fun to be with them. |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 4,201 |
Posted 05/07/2014 4:49 pm
