97-D Brass LMC

I've found them before. I was sorting a large pile of circulated cents and the brass one stood out over them all. Value? I'll never not save them. Only time will tell. Put it in a save place (2X2, flip, or air tight) Label so as not to spend it later. The one I have is also a 1997-D Cent. Probably it's brother of your coin.

So whats the story with these ?Are they real? Why were they made of brass?
Are they certified by a TGP as genuine brass?Never heard of these before

I called Ken Potter to talk to him about these since I have about 8 of them. He told me they occur when planchets are left in the plating vat too long and the zinc core reacts with the copper plating giving them a brass plating instead of copper(don't hold me to the exact nature of the process,but it is a plating related issue.) I asked him how you can tell if they are real and he said for $5 apiece he will look at them and let you know if he thinks they are real. I asked him how you tell and he really didn't give me an answer I could use to determine if it was worth the $5 bucks for him to look at them. I don't want this in any way to sound like I think Ken Potter is less than honest,but it doesn't sound like there is any definitive way to tell and for $5 you get an opinion. I also asked about value and he said it is worth it if you have somebody lined up to buy them but most folks won't pay but a few bucks for them unless they are special dates,which he didn't really elaborate on but from the gist of the conversation it has to do with coins known to be brass that came directly from the mint to him so there is no doubt about authenticity. Again, I don't want anyone to take this as a slam on Ken Potter, I just wanted to let you know there is apparently no definitive way to tell unless they come directly from the mint to someone with credibility in the Coin World to be validated.

Actually, Ken is very honest:-)

The problem is that these coins can be faked easily as the environment can tone a normally plated cent to a yellowish color.

The best way to know if it is "brass" plated is to lay it side by side to a normal cent and see if the color is far off enough toward yellow to merit a further examination. If it is far off enough, carefully look at the coin to see if there is any copper color hidden under the yellowish color.

That is not foolproof as there can be an uneven mixture of color in the plating.

It actually takes time to figure it out so I $5.00 a coin is probably designed to make the time worthwhile.:-)

That being said, I think your coin is "brass" plated.

If the zinc contaminates the copper, you get brass.

Have Fun,
Bill

Well I found 2 more in the same cent hoard. All of them being 97-d's so it wasn't the environment they where in that caused it. If that was the case they all would have turned brass colored (the jar was full of gem 91-99's)The lady that had them said they have been in this plastic manyase jar for 10yrs. Here is some of the other fine examples that are hard to find in nice shape. Sooooo many red S-mints and 4 small date 1960-d's

Keep in mind that the higher prices are for pristine, MS-65 and higher pieces. These can go for only a few dollars a piece when circulated.