Brass Plated Lincoln Cents - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,275
rohumpy Valued Member United States 164 Posts	Posted 01/01/2008 06:41 am I have recently seen ads for brass plated Lincoln Cents. My question is this--How is it possible to plate an alloy on to the surface of a planchet. I understand the plating process which results in a pure metal being plated onto a surface. But I just can't get my head around the concept of an alloy--in this case brass-- being plated onto a surface. Any ideas or explanations? Report this Post to the Staff

tnwalker10 Valued Member United States 393 Posts	Posted 01/01/2008 09:15 am The copper plating process requires that zinc pennies are put into a plating tank. On removal, some pennies were inadvertently left in the tank to gradually dissolve. This diluted the pure copper, making a brass alloy. The next batch gets plated with brass. I don't think these are considered to be rare. Report this Post to the Staff
rohumpy Valued Member United States 164 Posts	Posted 01/02/2008 05:43 am Thanks tnwalker10. If I might followup. Are you saying then that in the further plating of new zinc planchets that the now contaminated solution plates both copper and zinc onto the surface? If so, is it just an accident that the proper ratio of copper to zinc then produces brass? It is my understanding that brass must have a somewhat restricted composition to be, in fact brass. Don't mean to belabor the point, but the whole concept is somewhat puzzling. Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 01/02/2008 08:43 am Brass is a mixture of Copper and Zinc basically with different proportions pending the final products usage. Note that when Copper and Tin are mixed it is usually called Bronze. However, both these terms are ambiguous since many other elements have been added to either to produce other results and still maintain the same name. For example Silicon has been added to Copper/Tin to make an older looking, harder Bronze. Aluminum is added to Copper/Zinc to make Brass stronger and corrosion resistant. There are many procedures in plating processes and plating a coin with Brass, Bronze, etc. is commonly done. Serves no purpose on a Lincoln Cent though since it already appears to be brass is polished. Report this Post to the Staff
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