1942 wrong-planchet error coin?

rainbowstew_54

At the age of almost 64, I am new to the Coin World. When I was 9 (1963), my Aunt gave me a challenge. She gifted me several books filled with coins and I was to continue the hunt - not for regular coins but all the strange and weird ones.. About 2 weeks ago circumstances had me crack open these books which have not been opened in over 40 years. Among the Lincoln Cents, one penny stood out from all the others. The one I have is the one I have as my Avitar. I've done a bit of research - Is it perhaps one of the experimental coins? It looks exactly like the one I found in this article....
www.ngccoin.com/news/article/5949/1942-1943-Lincoln-cents-mint-errors/
It's for sure, one of the coins I'll be taking with me to the Coin Show on Sunday. I am wondering how they can determine a wrong planchet v. a plated coin. Does anyone know how that's done?

Regulated

The first step you might take is having a specific gravity test performed. That will tell you whether it is plated or not. If not, you'd probably want to send it to one of the services to get the metal tested. If the composition is consistent with a known foreign planchet, it is probably an error, if not, it could be an experimental planchet.

I own one of the 1942 J-2081 patterns, and the dies are wildly different from the one in your avatar (I'm in the process of writing an article about that pattern right now). If you need any help, shoot me a DM, as I've been doing a lot of research on the 1942 patterns...

Kkathyl

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out

CaptHenway

Is it magnetic?

rainbowstew_54

Thank you Regulated, Kkathyl and CaptHenway - No it isn't magnetic and I just checked all of my other coins and whew none are magnetic

FredWeinberg

clicking on your avatar, it appears to
be the result of improper metal mixture,
also called (for this type) 'brass' cents.

I don't believe it is experimental at all, but
the result mentioned above.

That's just from viewing the one photo,
and with no other info, such as weight.

1630Boston

@rainbowstew_54
Welcome aboard

rainbowstew_54

FredWeinberg and 1630Boston Thank you much

Timbuk3

Welcome aboard and good luck, hope it works in your favor !!!

BlindedByEgo

Glad you're here - sorry you waited so long !

divecchia

@rainbowstew_54 Welcome aboard and good luck with your cent.

Donato

CaptHenway

@rainbowstew_54 said:
Thank you Regulated, Kkathyl and CaptHenway - No it isn't magnetic and I just checked all of my other coins and whew none are magnetic

Sorry for the dumb question. Was looking at the picture on my cell phone and thought it was a 1943, hence the question about being magnetic.

Over the years I have seen a number of 1942 cents that were sort of brassy in appearance. This may have been connected to the fact that the Mint ran out of Tin for alloy use during 1942 and started using only Zinc for the alloy rather than Zinc plus Tin, which gives you Bronze. Brass is made of Copper plus Zinc, though you normally need to have the Zinc content up closer to 10% to get the brassy color.

For a complete history of the 1942 Experimental pieces see this book, "United States Pattern and Experimental Pieces of World War II" by Roger Burdette, available here:

https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/united-states-pattern-experimental-pieces-of-wwii.html

rainbowstew_54

I thank you all for the expertise and warm welcomes. I am so happy I found this forum. What a great group this is. I am so "Green" but learning fast ie: DDO Doubled Die Obverse - now if I was only able to detect one. LOL

rainbowstew_54

Awesome web site CaptHenway !

CaptHenway

Books are your friend, and Roger has written some of the great ones!

PocketArt

Interesting.

What is a fair value of a wheat cent struck on dime stock? Any difference between a '40's error, versus a '50's? Assuming each coin is in same condition.

Do lower mintage years/mints command more of a premium over higher mintage years/mints? Does this matter in factoring value of mint error?

rainbowstew_54

I am just amazed at all the different colors the Lincoln Cents are. I have one that is like no other I've seen and that I am quite fond of. It is a velvety deep Mahogany with a bright gold collar/ rim. I would love to post an image but my camera decided to quit working and since basic necessities are a priority for survival I won't be uploading any images for a bit. I hope to sell a few coins on Sunday.

CaptHenway

@PocketArt said:
Interesting.

What is a fair value of a wheat cent struck on dime stock? Any difference between a '40's error, versus a '50's? Assuming each coin is in same condition.

Do lower mintage years/mints command more of a premium over higher mintage years/mints? Does this matter in factoring value of mint error?

Do you mean struck on a normal silver dime planchet with a diameter of 17.9 mm (before any spreading out caused by the strike) and a weight of 2.5 grams? If so, I don't think that coming from the 1940's vs. the 1950's makes any difference in value. That said, the 1943 silver cents are more common than other years because the steel cent planchets and the silver dime planchets were hard to tell apart when shiny and new in the Mint, but the demand for them is also higher because they are shirttail cousins to the 1943 Bronze cent errors.

"Dime stock" implies a planchet punched from a cent blanking rod (19.1 mm) out of a coil of 90% silver rolled to the normal thickness of a silver dime planchet. Because it would have a larger diameter it would weigh more than 2.5 grams. I am unaware of ANY U.S. cent struck on a planchet punched to the cent diameter out of dime thickness silver strip.

TD

PocketArt

@CaptHenway said:

@PocketArt said:
Interesting.

What is a fair value of a wheat cent struck on dime stock? Any difference between a '40's error, versus a '50's? Assuming each coin is in same condition.

Do lower mintage years/mints command more of a premium over higher mintage years/mints? Does this matter in factoring value of mint error?

Do you mean struck on a normal silver dime planchet with a diameter of 17.9 mm (before any spreading out caused by the strike) and a weight of 2.5 grams? If so, I don't think that coming from the 1940's vs. the 1950's makes any difference in value. That said, the 1943 silver cents are more common than other years because the steel cent planchets and the silver dime planchets were hard to tell apart when shiny and new in the Mint, but the demand for them is also higher because they are shirttail cousins to the 1943 Bronze cent errors.

"Dime stock" implies a planchet punched from a cent blanking rod (19.1 mm) out of a coil of 90% silver rolled to the normal thickness of a silver dime planchet. Because it would have a larger diameter it would weigh more than 2.5 grams. I am unaware of ANY U.S. cent struck on a planchet punched to the cent diameter out of dime thickness silver strip.

TD

Yes sir, blanks intended for dimes @ 2.50 grams yet struck on cent dies. I have an opportunity to buy one yet was just curious on fair value. It's in an old ANACS slab- who knows; you may have graded it!

CaptHenway

I left there before slabbing existed.

When I was working in various coin shops and I wanted to wholesale an error coin I contacted Fred Weinberg, who is on here.

ricko

@rainbowstew_54... Welcome aboard.... You will find this forum to be a superb source for information and help with your coins. Cheers, RickO

CaptHenway

@Regulated said:
The first step you might take is having a specific gravity test performed. That will tell you whether it is plated or not. If not, you'd probably want to send it to one of the services to get the metal tested. If the composition is consistent with a known foreign planchet, it is probably an error, if not, it could be an experimental planchet.

I own one of the 1942 J-2081 patterns, and the dies are wildly different from the one in your avatar (I'm in the process of writing an article about that pattern right now). If you need any help, shoot me a DM, as I've been doing a lot of research on the 1942 patterns...

Whatever happened to this "pattern" coin? Cannot seem to find anything about it?