Check This Out

I don't like the appearence of it. Seems like it's plated or some sort.

It's possible that it is zinc perhaps and the coin looks like it was struck off-center. $20 is worth the risk.

I completely agree with Rick. It looks counterfeit with that off-center strike. If it had been really struck at the mint on a "wrong" planchet, it would still be centered.

Gotta agree. In a slab that thing is worth a whole lot more than it is raw. Someone would have been sharp enough to realize that by now. Even if it was in someones collection the past fifty years and cousin Eddie just inherited it what is the first thing they're gonna do with something they think is rare? Take it to a coin dealer or someone else who might be able to give them a value or possibly even buy it. I'd be willing to bet my coffeemaker it's bogus (and I love my coffeemaker). It looks like this guy has been dealing in coins on ebay for a while now so he'd know better.

Yup, it's probably been plated. Like everyone else has been saying, that thing should be in a slab if it's real.

He has ended the auction because of "an error in the listing" hummmm.

Zinc in an impure form was known and used as a metal for coins in Roman times, but chiefly by counterfeiters. It is poor for coins or most any other purpose because it is highly reactive. The impure zinc was a byproduct of melting ovens but was usually discarded as worthless. Strabo mentions it as pseudo-arguros -- "mock silver". The Berne zinc tablet is a votive plaque dating to Roman Gaul. It was called Spelter or Chimney metal in England in the middle ages because it was found in the chimnies of smelters. It was a waste product that fouled the flues and caused problems. It was routinely thrown away. But since it melted at very low temperatures it was perfect for making cast coins in simple molds and best for forgers it was CHEAP. But zinc as a pure metal was not even named until colonial times.

The property that causes spelter to be deposited in smelter chimnies is the boiling point of zinc. Zinc melts at 419 degrees celcius and boils at only 907 degrees. So when zinc is found mixed with other metals it boils off long before some of the other metals even melt (copper melts at 1083, silver at 961 and gold at 1064). This gaseous metal then cooled in the flue and condensed inside the chimney. Depending on the amount of zinc present - the flues could clog rather quickly.

I tend to agree with the comments above that refer to the Indian Head cent as being plated or dipped. Perhaps someone had access to a galvanizing tank. The details on the coin are far too fuzzy to be a struck coin. If it is struck on a zinc planchet I would vote for it being a forgery.