Coolest Penny Ever
quarinteen
Posts: 68 ✭
Hello everyone I am new to the forum. I usually use https://www.coincommunity.com/ but that site is down i guess. I found this Penny its a 2009. At first look it appears weird looking like it is fake or something then look a little closer it looks like a seriously damaged penny. Look even closer with a scope there is some seriously cool stuff going on. It looks like someone threw acid on it or something or like it could be hollow inside. I thought it might be damage from circulation but I think for sure it was damage to the planchet before it was struck. I think this because of the CUD marks around the holes. Please take a peek and let me know what you think.. Either way I think its the most interesting penny I every found.
Here is first look 
then here is some close ups
Comments
Before I am corrected sorry 2007
The Mints Redemption Program is running again, save up all of these coins and send them back to the mint and they'll send you a nice check,
Damaged
Not really.
I was excited for you initially when I just saw the reverse and you said it was 2009...you'd have had something special there. I agree with all of the others, it's a damaged coin, the copper coating was punctured and the zinc interior has dissolved/corroded.
Zinc is fairly reactive, as soon as the copper coating is broken through it will react much more readily than the surrounding copper and leave holes like that. It essentially becomes a sacrificial anode to the copper coating.
Collector, occasional seller
Why would 2009 be different?
Post mint damage is not worth anything.
The modern cent is made of zinc with a copper coating. When the copper coating is disturbed the zinc below it is exposed. Zinc is prone to corrosion and is not really suitable for coins unless it is mixed with copper to make bronze. When pure zine is exposed to the air it oxidizes. Hence this coin is rotting from within.
Many years ago, I was offered a 1983 Doubled Die Reverse cent. The coin was priced at a couple hundred dollars. In the vernacular of the times, “I would not have touched that coin with a ten foot pole.” Like this piece, the zinc below was exposed to the air and was starting to deteriorate. I could see storing it in a coin envelope, letting it sit in my safe deposit box, and come back a decade later to find an envelope full of dust.
When the modern cent is lost in nature, it will disappear in about a year’s time.
Also I dont think the coin was punctured. If you look at the holes the metal expansion goes outward. If it was punctured after the fact the swell would go inward. Also there is way too much damage all over the coin even the sides I think for it to be just some normal copper wearing off. I really think there is alot more going on here.
If you look at the second to the last picture above STATES look at the imprints of where the die was pressed in. This was so a bad planchet or something.
Also look at the R in Liberty there is a CUD around it and it appears part of the letter R its self has melted away
2009 was Lincoln's 200th birthday when the mint did 4 special commemorative reverse designs in place of the Lincoln Memorial. If you had a 2009 with the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse...you'd have quite a valuable coin on your hands.
By punctured, I didn't mean a needlepoint type puncture. Essentially something got through the outer copper surface, most likely by being on a sidewalk or parking lot and being walked on and driven over. Trust us all...it's nothing special...but $.01.
The entire coin wasn't punctured, only the copper plating layer. Once this happens, the exposed zinc corrodes pretty quickly.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Here we go....defiance in the face of experienced opinions...
It may be cool looking and if the effect is extreme enough it might be a good educational tool worth keeping, but that is about it.
Yeah, Fairly rude new guy to come on here & ask experienced collectors/dealers their opinion on a coin & then hit disagree on everyone's helpful & most likely true opinions.
Look at the verdigris specks on your cent. This fairly recent 2007 cent must have been buried in the ground or kept in a moist place with surface damage that reached the delicious Zincy center of your Lincy pop.
If you do not want to believe that, weigh the penny for us and post your findings here.
And please do not ask if you are just going to disagree with the majority because you have already made up your mind on this it seems.
Better yet send it in to PCGS just make sure you pre pay for your fees
Welcome to the forum
all around collector of many fine things
That's not actually a US cent - it's from here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth
If you look carefully in the holes on the coin, you might just see some tiny men.
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
You've already made many friends here by tossing out disagrees and arguing with the experts.
I look forward to enjoying your short stay here.
Corroding Zinc can release gas bubbles which will push the thin copper layer out. I'm a chemist, I used to do things like this all the time for my amusement.
"If you look...
...Look
Look...."
I'm noticing a familiar pattern here.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
Jesus people on this board are sensitive. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone's egos here. I am the type if it doesn't make sense to me I will argue my point. So to me if you say someone poured acid on it well I think if acid is poured on something it melts evenly, If someone stab or punctures something then the marks go in not out. Now when something is explained to me with a valid reason such as jmlanzaf has with the chemical reaction then I think about it and it makes sense so thank you jmlanzaf. I dont take things at face value. Anyone can say anything doesn't make it true and how am i supposed to know if your some expert. You could be the Einstein of coins but I don't know you from Adam so I will argue what makes sense to me.
If you take what everyone says at face value with no explanation or reason then you're probably the type that gets all your information from wikipedia and argues it as fact.
Anyways thanks to the like 2 people who actually made a sensible comment and provided some insight. I will still be keeping it regardless whether its worth a million or it costs me a hundred dollars a week because as the title says I think its the coolest penny I have ever seen.
So I get a disagree for helping out a bro with the truth about a coin.
Super cool move dude
It's not all you. We've had a run of trolls come through here with damaged coins claiming they were rare errors and then arguing people, including world-class experts like Fred Weinberg. As a result, when you starting arguing, people just assume you are another troll.
People are sensitive to the "disagree" button also. It's a little silly as "disagree" isn't exactly an insult, but we tend to reserve it for special occasions.
As to the acid, I actually had a student do an Honors' project by taking a zinc center cent and putting it in concentrated nitric acid. We pulled the copper out before it also dissolved and we actually had a hollow copper casing. Fun with chemicals.
There is nothing "cool" about that cent. It is just another of many, many cents that have been damaged by the environment after they have entered circulation. Who knows how it happened ... but it did happen.
@quarinteen I agree with the previous posters about the zinc "rot" but I do have a suggestion. As @jmlanzaf mentioned, some people are sensitive about the disagree button. I expect you could make more friends if you'd go back to the posts you disagreed with and removed the disagree by clicking disagree again. Clicking any of the buttons below the post--disagree, lol, like, etc--twice removes the initial click. And, by the way, welcome!
damaged coin worth a penny
Coins for sake at link below
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOVMv7FZDb2BvqQnSIUKnelz2nhX9TVEMcKHgHm
You are welcome to think whatever you like. Your opinions do not change reality.
Hydrochloric acid dissolves zinc and does not dissolve copper. That's reality. Period stop.
Look up "standard reduction potential" for various discussions about which acids dissolve which metals.
This is true.
I should add... When the zinc cents first came out, I actually did this experiment. File a small patch on the edge of a cent so that the zinc shows through, then dunk it in concentrated hydrochloric acid. CAUTION: concentrated hydrochloric acid is no joke, and can do some serious damage. On the other hand, it's sold commercially in various forms, including concrete cleaner available from hardware stores. Follow safety instructions if you buy any.
It took a week or two, but the acid eventually ate out all of the zinc core and left a pristine copper shell (with a little hole on the edge) that was light enough to blow around.
The zinc will dissolve faster if you change the acid a few times. Also if you expose more of the zinc for the acid to work on. Of course if you file off too much of the edge you'll end up with two separate halves when you're done, rather than a complete shell. The complete shell is much cooler. :-)
Cent exposed to salt, once it gets to core, buhbuy. Peace Roy
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This would be an excellent candidate for the "deposit it at the bank and let them deal with it".
Gee-whiz info; your coin is a CENT, not a penny. The British had a small unit of coinage called a Pence, the United States has the Cent.
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@jonathanb Yeah I messed up and used concentrated Nitric instead of Hydrochloric my first time testing it out. Heck of a show, but not coin left....
I'm late to this party, but to the OP:
Please try to understand, from all of the
previous posts, that EVERY thing you see
on your cent as an 'error' ALLL occured
after the coin was in circulation.
Read them, re-read them, and absorb them.
Your Cent did not leave the US Mint like that.
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
Simple and to the point your coin has what is called post mint damage or PMD which is when a coin is altered after it left the mint
Coins for sake at link below
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOVMv7FZDb2BvqQnSIUKnelz2nhX9TVEMcKHgHm
I'm impressed, jmlanzaf. Your restrained reply to another person who comes in like a "gangbuster" was well intentioned, as well as constructive.
I hope people learn from this. (but I won't hold my breath).
Pete
I agree with the comments posted above. Definitely PMD. Good job with the photos!
Do we need to stress this to new posters? It’s another way to make them feel unwelcome. Everyone calls it a penny, even the US Mint on its website. Word choice matters most when there is a potential for misunderstanding. There is no chance for that here.
PM sent
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Looks like he is back and out of quarinteen. But any way on your coin you can make them by poking a cent with a needle then put it in vinegar let it sit for a week then take it out and it will be hollow and float in water. This one was in a wishing well for some time, Have a good time posting.
Hoard the keys.
I always give them a chance to prove they aren't just looking for trouble. I'm not as convinced as some of my colleagues here that you can tell a troll from a single post.
@quarinteen...Welcome aboard....You have a damaged cent as many have told you already....Cheers, RickO
EXACTLY Why say...
"Please take a peek and let me know what you think.. Either way I think its the most interesting penny I every found."
and then disagree with others think?
Do not swallow that coin!
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He's the penny guy, he always returns.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
It's not the coolest penny ever. It's a POS. It's not even in the Top 100 coolest pennies ever. It's damaged. Not even in the Top 1000 coolest pennies ever. It's a dead cent. It's beat all to hell. It's worth a penny. Or probably less. In fact, it's not even in the top 1 million coolest pennies ever. It's merde, poo-poo, caca, it's defunct, it is completely worthless and devoid of value or further attention!
George
To check out some of the actual coolest pennies (cents
) ever, head here:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/997910/post-your-pcgs-toned-lincolns#latest
That thread will blow your mind.
George
So George, tell us how you REALLY feel?
So if I understand you correctly, you really like this coin and thing it is really cool?
No worries, with that zinc rot already underway there won't be anything to argue over for much longer.
If the gov't was trying to profit by issuing self-destructing coins that needed to be replaced on a regular basis, they should have picked a denomination that costs less than face value to produce.
I suggest prunes.