1974 Aluminum Cent pictures

Rob790 · February 19, 2007 6:43AM

I'm a fan of the 1974 Aluminum cent and here are some pictures for fellow fans to admire. Never seen some of these posted here before so wanted to share.

The best picture of the famed 1974 Aluminum that I've ever seen! Got it from the Smithsonian's web site before they pulled it.

The same coin but a slightly different picture. Notice the lint above the "4" in the date.

The same coin but with a bad "mug shot". This makes the coin look ugly.

All of these are the same coin.

From these pictures, the 1974 looks proof-like with moderate starburst in the fields. The strike is not as sharp as expected and is not full in the lower rim of the obverse. You can see planchet striations in the fields.

I just love this coin.

Rob

cladking · February 19, 2007 7:22AM

It would have made a lot of sense to switch to aluminum in '75
and discontinued the coin altogether in the mid-'80's.

Aluminun is really a great coinage material for extremely low val-
ue coins. It's also a "fun" metal for collectors since collecting
these is a little different than any other metal. Aluminum coins
are almost more a commodity being used up quickly than other
metals. It's almost non-toxic and degrades rapidly.

The '74 design was recut to suit coining aluminum so the copper
cents exist in two versions. The small date is less common and
doesn't appear in mint sets. Both versions were made at all three
mints.

ddbird · February 19, 2007 7:29AM

I have a friend that swears his Grandfather has one.

Turns out his Grandaddy was running the Alcoa Alum. factory during the time of their mintage...

It is possible I suppose...but I sure would like to see.

flaminio · February 19, 2007 7:35AM

Aluminum could make cents profitable to produce, but I don't think it's worth it. The 1974 Al cent weighs only 0.93g, compared to the already lightweight 2.5g Zincolns and the 3.1g copper cents. If any kind of coin would feel worthless, it'd be an aluminum one.

That said, the 1974 Al cent is an exceedingly cool pattern. Aside from the Toven specimen and apparently ddbird's friend's grandfather's, I wonder how many of them are "in the wild".

ksteelheader · February 19, 2007 7:47AM

I personally took this picture!

Manorcourtman · February 19, 2007 8:57AM

<< <i>I personally took this picture!

>>

As an FBI agent your pics are noted and recorded.

CaptainRon · February 19, 2007 1:16PM

Thanks for posting the pics.

RichieURich · February 19, 2007 1:33PM

Neat pictures, guys! Thanks for posting them!

droopyd · February 19, 2007 1:38PM

I remember those when I was a kid, and that there were supposedly several examples never accounted for that had been distributed to members of Congress and other gov't officials. Since I was in the DC area, you bet I combed thru change every chance I got to see if I could find one. (But of course I never did

)

kranky · February 19, 2007 8:00PM

I am pretty envious of the members here who had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to personally examine one of those aluminum cents. I well remember the day that thread was posted!

lordmarcovan · February 19, 2007 8:14PM

<< <i>It would have made a lot of sense to switch to aluminum in '75
and discontinued the coin altogether in the mid-'80's.

Aluminun is really a great coinage material for extremely low val-
ue coins. It's also a "fun" metal for collectors since collecting
these is a little different than any other metal. Aluminum coins
are almost more a commodity being used up quickly than other
metals. It's almost non-toxic and degrades rapidly. >>

I agree that switching to aluminum would've made a lot of sense and I think the result would have been more pleasant than the copper-coated zinc cents we have today. Lighter to carry around, too.

I don't know if I agree that the cent should've been discontinued in the mid-'80s. I suppose that might've made sense, too, but having the cent as our fractional currency unit, it would seem strange to not have one-cent coins and to have the smallest denomination be the five-cent piece.

Dennis88 · February 19, 2007 11:18PM

Very nice pictures

. Maybe someone can post pictures of the ICG coin>

Dennis

FredWeinberg · February 20, 2007 12:25AM

The 1974 Aluminum Cent is no longer in an ICG Holder.

It's now in a PCGS holder - and I had the great fun of
examining it RAW !!

It was PC'd about two years ago, maybe a bit less.

Fred

carl · February 20, 2007 1:01AM

They are pretty neat looking. I just don't understand our Mint not looking into producing Cents made with a mixture of Aluminum and other less costly materials. Part of the extreme cost of production of our current Cent is the necessity of Copper coating the thing. If they would just ignore the Copper coating, go with Aluminum and Zinc or Tin or Nickel or even Iron, the cost would be greatly reduced and who cares if it is not Copper colored.

Writersblock · February 20, 2007 4:40AM

The thought behind the copper plating was twofold. one so that the general public would not realize the composition change had been made and start hoarding the copper cents, and two to prevent confusion of the cent and the dime. (As happened in 1943.)

cladking · February 20, 2007 4:48AM

Zinc is a highly reactive metal. Without the copper they'd look even worse than the
mess we have in circulation now. The cost of the copper plating is minimal. The price
of zinc was recently high enough that a penny had more than one cents worth of zinc
in it.

Even if the zinc were free (ask Al Gore if it's free), it would probably be cost prohibitive
to coin a one cent piece in zinc. Even if the cents were provided to the government
free of charge, the costs of counting, handling and shipping the one cent piece is greater
than their value.

Inflation has destroyed this coin and it's still being produced because of special interests
and inertia.

1974 Aluminum Cent pictures

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