1991 Lincoln Cent (No Copper) - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 3,659
Rambles New Member United States 13 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 02:00 am Hey folks! I came across this 1991 Lincoln Cent a while back, and wanted to get some thoughts about it... I believe it to be a legit planchet error where the copper coating is missing from the zinc core. But I am still learning as I travel through my error collecting journey and don't have expertise in these type of errors. The lighting in the pictures is a little misleading, but the coin has an even silver'ish look. Obviously I was skeptical when I came across it so I interrogated it. Under magnification there is absolutely zero trace flakes of copper in any of the lettering/corners. It's in uncirculated condition with no pitting or anything suggesting it is a stripped coin. There's a slight black'ish type of tarnishing on the reverse, but other than that it's a beauty. I weighed it in @ 2.3g when I acquired it. I sent pics and email to Heritage Auctions and had an appraisal done. They responded saying it would be valued at about $100.00, but didn't offer any information other than that. I'm assuming that was a raw coin estimate. I plan on sending in a group of coins to PCGS, to be graded. This is probably going to be one of them. Just curious what everyone else thinks. It passed my initial "sniff test", but what about you folks? I just dont know much past the basics of this type of error, so any and all info/thoughts would be awesome. Thanks everyone! Edited by Rambles 11/10/2020 02:30 am Report this Post to the Staff

John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 04:50 am to CCF. To me it looks very heavily polished,that might be why it is that light in weight. Let's wait for a pro or two to chime in.Meanwhile you might want to look at slabbed images of a genuine missing copper plating from PCGS or NGC or ANACS. John1 Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34397 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 05:17 am Quote: Under magnification there is absolutely zero trace flakes of copper in any of the lettering/corners. It's in uncirculated condition with no pitting or anything suggesting it is a stripped coin. Well then perhaps worth sending in to a TPG for verification/attribution. If you do decide to, pls post a pic of it in its slab to this thread. Thx. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 08:59 am Keep us informed! to the CCF! Report this Post to the Staff
CoinHunter27 Pillar of the Community United States 5887 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 10:17 am It looks plated or polished to me, not a mint error. -CH27 Collector of U.S. Coins, Varieties, and Colonial Coinage Edited by CoinHunter27 11/10/2020 10:17 am Report this Post to the Staff
HGK3 Pillar of the Community United States 572 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 12:01 pm My concern is that if this cent were truly just the zinc core it would not look this pristine after almost 30 years of routine exposure. Zinc is a much more reactive metal than most and very quickly turns black with patina when exposed to the elements. Look at the coins from European countries in the interwar period that went to Zinc as a metal because it was inexpensive for an example of what a (mostly) Zinc minted coin looks like after a few years. Also, the reverse appears to be showing some patination changes different from the obverse. Can we get betters photos of the reverse? Report this Post to the Staff
coop Bedrock of the Community United States 62064 Posts	Posted 11/10/2020 12:38 pm A unplated example would be not the shiny. So it was plated. Just a face value coin. Report this Post to the Staff
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