Underweight 1936 cent question

sadysta1

As I was going through bags of cents sorting things out I grabbed this penny and it felt a little thin. I set it aside just in case.
I put a regular wheat penny on a scale and it came at 3.10 grams, then I put a worn 1909 cent on a scale and it came at 3.00 grams, Then I weighted this coin and it came at 2.22 grams. Any ideas what's going on or is it just a damaged coin? Sorry, my pictures are not the best

CaptHenway

Reduced by acid or otherwise corroded.

jmlanzaf

@CaptHenway said:
Reduced by acid or otherwise corroded.

+1

Definitely etched away artificially.

ricko

It is a damaged coin, as stated above - likely acid etched. Also severely damaged. Your pictures are fine. Cheers, RickO

291fifth

Mutilated junk.

Jimnight

coinbuf

We can only guess, perhaps it was an underweight planchet to start with which was then subjected to time in the ground, acid, or any other number of factors to arrive at its current skinny level.

carabonnair

I was going to say it was made to pass as a dime in a payphone, but that would be 2.5 grams. Just chalk it up to damage.

mothra454

@carabonnair said:
I was going to say it was made to pass as a dime in a payphone, but that would be 2.5 grams. Just chalk it up to damage.

https://usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/coin-specifications

According to the mint, modern dimes are 2.268 g, so you may be on to something! Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through to save 9 cents, but humans have done far stranger things.