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1926 Silver Penny?

Hi all. Never posted before and honestly never was even a member of a coin collector discussion group before but in cleaning out my father-in-law's house I came across a ton of change so I'm really old times and buffalo nickels but this one coin just struck me as odd and I haven't been able to find anything online about it. It's from 1926 and it is clearly not a copper colored penny. Now weather the metal content somehow changed over time I'm not sure but I was hoping to get some feedback from some people here

Comments

  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,145 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Plated. Either Mercury or of a substance outside of the mint. Had it been struck on a silver dime planchet, it would have been of a smaller diameter.
    Now, I could be totally wrong, and it might be struck on a foreign planchet as the mint did strike coinage for other countries at the time.

    It would need further testing (weighing and such) for a final and accurate determination. Neat item, though! Thanks for sharing.

    peacockcoins

  • ifthevamzarockinifthevamzarockin Posts: 8,901 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forum! :)

    Looks like your coin has been plated with a white metal, maybe silver.
    It didn't leave the mint that way. ;)

  • Don't know much about coins to be honest, but just thought it was kind of cool. What kind of value would something like this have? ..... If any

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 33,311 ✭✭✭✭✭

    it's value has been hurt by altering the surfaces.

    unfortunately, 1 cent value.

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 13,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 13, 2021 1:00PM

    @MsMorrisine said:
    it's value has been hurt by altering the surfaces.

    unfortunately, 1 cent value.

    While obviously only a very minor difference, virtually any wheat cent from that era is worth at least a few cents.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • CoinscratchCoinscratch Posts: 8,761 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forum!
    Maybe it was part of a homemade battery experiment.

  • CameonutCameonut Posts: 7,301 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I used to work in a large industrial plating shop. Silver was often plated on cents as a novelty - I personally plated many as gifts. Nice and shiny for quite a while. However, nickel could also be plated but it's yellowish color would suggest that this cent was not plated with nickel. Other metals that could be plated are zinc - which would likely have corroded after several years - especially with that hole. And tin - that is another possibility but unlikely. We used to plate spring steel electrical contacts with tin. Other precious metals are possible, but not likely.

    As far as value, it has value as a novelty, not more than a few cents of intrinsic value.

    “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson

    My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,271 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MFeld said:

    @MsMorrisine said:
    it's value has been hurt by altering the surfaces.

    unfortunately, 1 cent value.

    While obviously only a very minor difference, virtually any wheat cent from that era is worth at least a few cents.

    Not one that's been holed like this one.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,271 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The hole at 12 o'clock indicates that it was used in jewelry so I would guess that it was silver plated for that purpose.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • Steven59Steven59 Posts: 8,840 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes - see if you can get the weight. It may also be a cast aluminum copy - although there is a spot of copper by the left wheat stalk.

    "When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 33,311 ✭✭✭✭✭

    not aluminum.

    if curious, an aluminum one would weight a tad less than 1/3 of a wheat cent.

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 5,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    '74 Aluminum Cents weigh .93 grams,
    so yea, close to a 1/3rd of a copper cent.

    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Plated.

  • JimnightJimnight Posts: 10,846 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Heated?

  • Steven59Steven59 Posts: 8,840 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MsMorrisine said:
    not aluminum.

    if curious, an aluminum one would weight a tad less than 1/3 of a wheat cent.

    Probably - I was just throwing it out there for something to discuss. It does look crappily plated with something as from all of the porosity and the dull finish. I have old wheats plated with nickel that have never lost the "shininess". What's with the hole in it. looks to have been drilled from the obverse through to the reverse then filled with something?

    "When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @joeyl00 .... Welcome aboard. It looks as if it was plated - likely with silver, and holed as a piece of jewelry. Probably a birth year coin... Cheers, RickO

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