New Novelty Purchase -1912 Lincoln Wheat Cent

Fairfaxthunder

Greetings. Thank you all for all your great info.

I am working wheat and Lincoln cents with one of my daughters. We came across this today at a show and bought it because we simply wanted to fill a hole. It was in a gimmicky Year of the Titanic-themed plastic container. I assume it was cleaned or something? Possibly coated too? Would welcome your thoughts. To me it doesn’t look unmolested.

Please holler if you need more pics. Spent $.25.

291fifth

Sorry, but you just spent $25 on an item that has little or no numismatic value. It has either been harshly polished or plated with something. Avoid items in gimmick holders!

Fairfaxthunder

I spent a quarter. Again it was to fill a hole in my daughters book and we knew it going in that it had no value. I was wondering about the plating -thanks. I guess they just spray painted these things back then but was simply asking.

JBK

@291fifth said:
Sorry, but you just spent $25 on an item that has little or no numismatic value. It has either been harshly polished or plated with something. Avoid items in gimmick holders!

I think/hope he said $.25, as in two bits.

291fifth

@JBK said:

@291fifth said:
Sorry, but you just spent $25 on an item that has little or no numismatic value. It has either been harshly polished or plated with something. Avoid items in gimmick holders!

I think/hope he said $.25, as in two bits.

My mistake ... though I think even 25 cents is too high.

JBK

@Fairfaxthunder said:
To me it doesn’t look unmolested.

That's for sure. It's been totally molested.

On the one hand I'd say steer clear of this cleaned/damaged stuff, but on the other hand I'm not sure if anyone at a coin show would be selling single coins in this range.

But if you had fun with your daughter at the coin show then that makes it all priceless.

LanceNewmanOCC

@Fairfaxthunder said:
I am working wheat and Lincoln cents with one of my daughters. We came across this today at a show...

.
the most valuable part of your post.

other than sentiment, the coin, not so much but even if you fill a whole album like this, knowingly, if you are out with your kids, at shows, your polished cent has my vote.

Fairfaxthunder

She’s actually into the Titanic and science shows on it and books and such…even she knew the coin wasn’t worth anything. I wonder what the chemical was…she’ll get more out of the picture and board that came with it.

Fairfaxthunder

Everyone knew it was junk -it was in a grab bin with plenty of other similar stuff. Sorry -my bad I should have been more clear above.

Fairfaxthunder

@LanceNewmanOCC said:

@Fairfaxthunder said:
I am working wheat and Lincoln cents with one of my daughters. We came across this today at a show...

.
the most valuable part of your post.

other than sentiment, the coin, not so much but even if you fill a whole album like this, knowingly, if you are out with your kids, at shows, your polished cent has my vote.

So what chemical would do this to a coin?

JBK

A buffing wheel and some copper polish, I am guessing.

JBK

@Fairfaxthunder said:
She’s actually into the Titanic

That's amazing. I am surprised and glad that a younger person is interested in the Titanic.

When I was her age the Titanic was still undiscovered and it was a great mystery what happened to it.

Fairfaxthunder

@JBK said:

@Fairfaxthunder said:
She’s actually into the Titanic

That's amazing. I am surprised and glad that a younger person is interested in the Titanic.

When I was her age the Titanic was still undiscovered and it was a great mystery what happened to it.

There's this entire documentary on Nat Geo and/or Disney (more scientific than most) that "drains" the Atlantic and discusses theories about why the front of the ship suffered far less damage than the stern (spoiler alert - it had less air in it while descending); them tracing items in the debris field back to individuals. I have no idea why this gripped her so much. At any rate thank you for the info above about the copper polish as a guess. I recently had a neighbor tell me he had hundreds of wheat cents for us and that they were all "shiny" and not "brown" because he cleaned them in TarnX

bsshog40

Well you already know it's worthless, as many have indicated, but to help with your question, I don’t think it's been plated, just heavy polished.

Fairfaxthunder

@bsshog40 said:
Well you already know it's worthless, as many have indicated, but to help with your question, I don’t think it's been plated, just heavy polished.

Thanks.

TomB

It's been thoroughly polished with something like Tarn-X, Brasso or a similar compound. For the price of a quarter I think you did well to spend the day with your daughter.

MFeld

@TomB said:
It's been thoroughly polished with something like Tarn-X, Brasso or a similar compound. For the price of a quarter I think you did well to spend the day with your daughter.

Yes, all things considered, it was an absolute bargain.

Fairfaxthunder

Tomorrow I get 3 hours on my own to go through grown up bins:)

lilolme

And if I read this correctly they also got a
Year of the Titanic-themed plastic container
for the quarter. So the cent was an added extra.

Glen2022

@JBK said:

When I was her age the Titanic was still undiscovered and it was a great mystery what happened to it.

Mystery was not what happened to it - it struck an iceberg and sank. The mystery was its precise location as the location put out over the wireless before it sank was some 10 miles in error.

JBK

@Glen2022 said:

@JBK said:

When I was her age the Titanic was still undiscovered and it was a great mystery what happened to it.

Mystery was not what happened to it - it struck an iceberg and sank. The mystery was its precise location as the location put out over the wireless before it sank was some 10 miles in error.

Yes, correct. Although there were probably a few people who thought aliens abducted it. 👽 👽

Of course, the precise details of it's sinking were not fully known until they discovered it, as I recall.

For example, artistic renditions showed the Titanic with its stern lifted very high in the air as the bow slipped beneath the water, but as I understand it, the hull could not support that weight and the back section actually split from the rest of the ship and briefly settled back into the water.

In any case, the mystery of where the Titanic ended up was an enduring one for 80 years.

CoinHoarder

I think the coin might have possibly been cleaned with baking soda.

ricko

Nice memento for your daughter's 'other' interest/collection. Nothing wrong with picking up an item of interest that ties two hobbies together. Cheers, RickO

Fairfaxthunder

@JBK said:

@Glen2022 said:

@JBK said:

When I was her age the Titanic was still undiscovered and it was a great mystery what happened to it.

Mystery was not what happened to it - it struck an iceberg and sank. The mystery was its precise location as the location put out over the wireless before it sank was some 10 miles in error.

Yes, correct. Although there were probably a few people who thought aliens abducted it. 👽 👽

Of course, the precise details of it's sinking were not fully known until they discovered it, as I recall.

For example, artistic renditions showed the Titanic with its stern lifted very high in the air as the bow slipped beneath the water, but as I understand it, the hull could not support that weight and the back section actually split from the rest of the ship and briefly settled back into the water.

In any case, the mystery of where the Titanic ended up was an enduring one for 80 years.

According to the theory of the documentary that's why the stern suffered far more damaged on the way down since air, which largely and slowly escaped the bow portion as water filled, became compressed until it "had" to escape, blowing away floorboards, panels, etc... its convincing at least to a lay person. Also the widely dispersed debris field with the stern seems to support this.