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 Replies: 12 / Views: 2,693 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
I am new here so forgive me if this topic is in the wrong forum. I just recently started back coin hunting and am so disappointed, (mad actually), at the changes our government has made to quality of coin alloy's, and have seen thousands of penny's is states of degrading. My question is this, is there a way to halt the rotting process of coins we find that have some collectable value?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10635 Posts |
If you are speaking specifically of post '82 zinc Lincolns cents and "zinc rot", no, there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop them from eating themselves. Complaining or being upset won't help the matter either. It's only a matter of time before cents are eliminated from our circulation anyway, hoard them while you can! Canada had the right idea stopping minting of cents back in 2012. If it was announced tomorrow that minting of cents would cease there would be such a rush to scoop them up here, zinc rot and all!  |
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
Thanks for the reply. I've fell into watching a lot of U-tube video's and have noticed a number of coin roll hunters that do their inspecting and then actually pull all the copper from the lot either for the raw copper value or to preserve the coinage for what it is, they don't specify. Frankly, I'm not wealthy enough to go that far, yet!
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8938 Posts |
The only thing that might deter or slow degradation is frequent(ish) acetone baths. Alternatively, and this may seem controversial, selective spot plating. Personally, if I had a really rare Zinc Cent, say a high grade 92 Close AM, and a spot of zinc rot set in, I would rather artificially replate that singular spot and have a details coin than no coin at all. |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
 to CCF. Do not believe everything you see on the tube. Keeping the copper cents for the metal does no good because you are not allowed to melt them in this country as of yet. John1  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19176 Posts |
As far as zinc cents go, make an effort to care for the best examples you have--2x2s work well, capsules perhaps a bit better. Avoid storing them in environments characteristic of high humpty and extreme temperature swings. I have around a thousand MS65+ '82s (zinc) through present put away--no issues, zero. Heck, I recently found another thousand-plus loose zinc cents I had from the late 80s in a box, and they were in good condition too--no rot, AU58-MS62 or so. When I do come across very early stages of rot (or worse), I drop them into circulation quickly.
As far as YouTube goes, I'd rather watch compilations of Eastern European driving fails than coin videos.
Edited by ijn1944
03/10/2021 07:58 am
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Valued Member
United States
68 Posts |
Say I have a zinc cent with some of that rot in like a mason jar or something with other zinc cents. Will the rot spread? Or does each individual cent start to rot by itself depending on physical, and environmental conditions? I know its not like mold (even if sometimes it does look like it), but I was just wondering if because the chemical process has already started on one and if its touching another that it could possibly kick start the chemical process on other cents in the close vicinity?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10635 Posts |
Quote:
I was just wondering if because the chemical process has already started on one and if its touching another that it could possibly kick start the chemical process on other cents in the close vicinity? No, I don't believe it works that way, and I don't think it has anything to do with air exposure either. A lot of zinc rot starts due to the poor pre-minting treatment. This is especially noticeable with coins that have zinc dust on them. Exposure to air I don't think is a catalyst to start zinc rot, but once a cent is marked up ( PMD), exposing bare zinc to air it then increases the rot. I am not an expert in metals, these are just my thoughts based on what I have noticed over the ages. In my opinion, the worse decision made by the mint and whoever decides such things was to ever produce the zinc cents. |
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Valued Member
United States
68 Posts |
Gotchya! Thanks for the response. I didnt think that it worked that way, but figured Id ask since the thought crossed my mind while reading the thread. I have to agree, I love Lincoln cents. But I hate the zincs. I especially dont like the post '09 shield cents.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10635 Posts |
I have compiled several of 2009 boxes of mint Lincoln Cent rolls (Directly from the mint), stored away in airtight plastic, kept in a cool, dark spot, and I'll be very disappointed (and surprised) if I open them up in five years or so to find zinc rot on them. I'll tell you in five years (when I become a crabby old woman) [no comments, Greasy!]! |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The ability for rot with Zincolns was built in with the decision to produce them in the first place.
The best way to avoid rotting with Zincolns, is to not collect them.
Increasingly, they are used as a one transaction only coin.
That makes them unnecessarily expensive.
Injection molded recyclable plastic coins would be better.
Recyclable plastic banknotes have been in circulation in some countries for many years.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
6244 Posts |
Hi a short explanation of the zinc oxidation: Quote from material database: Indoor Exposure. Zinc corrodes very little in ordinary indoor atmospheres of moderate relative humidity. In general, a tarnish film begins to form at spots where dust particles are present on the surface: the film then develops slowly. This attack may be a function of the percentage of relative humidity at which the particles absorb moisture from the air. Rapid corrosion can occur where the temperature decreases and where visible moisture that condenses on the metal dries slowly. This is related to the ease with which such thin moisture films maintain high oxygen content because of the small volume of water and large water/air interface area. For those with more interest on this issue here is the link: http://www.totalmateria.com/Article40.htmTo clean the oxide is possible but very hard. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1667 Posts |
Copper plated zinc cents..... It's not zinc "rot". If the copper plating gets penetrated the zinc is exposed to the air. This exposed zinc then forms zinc oxide which is a powder. Circulation, hands, banging, pockets, and moisture all knock off this zinc oxide layer of powder and then more zinc is sacrificed to zinc oxide to protect the exposed zinc again. It gives the impression of rotting but it isn't. It's just what zinc does. So is their a way to "halt" it? Yes. If you take it out of circulation, protect it and leave it alone the zinc oxide will form over the exposed zinc and as long as it's not knocked off, that's all that will be sacrificed. The worse they are by how long they circulated will pretty much tell you whether it's worth it to bother or not though. If they circulated too long with the plating compromised there's stopping it, but not saving it, it's going to be corroded and eaten away. Here's a 1990P with a lot of split plating. It wouldn't have survived even 5 or 10 years left in circulation but I pulled it back then, put it in a 2x2 and left it alone except for these pictures. Been 31 years now.   They can be saved, as far as not getting any worse. There's no way to correct it or fix it. The more zinc oxide that gets knocked off the more zinc is sacrificed to make more oxide to cover the exposed zinc. It's a lot like a cut and forming a scab. Edited by Big-Kingdom
03/12/2021 06:49 am
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,693 |
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Posted 03/10/2021 01:31 am
