Ok error people! Tell me what I've got here!

ms70

Obviously a 1976 Cent strike, but why is it silver in color? It's not magnetic- I checked that first. The rim is smooth just like a cent should
be & no signs of being a clad planchet. Has a weird "ring" to it when I accidently dropped it on the table. (Good going, huh? )

My guesses:

1- Struck on a nickel planchet

2- Struck on a cent planchet that didn't get the copper layer

3- Struck on a planchet intended for coinage from another country

This was found in change. Any help is appreciated!

braddick

Plated, probably. There were a lot of "commemorative" junk sold back then and plating one of these cents, like they do with state quarters nowadays, seems like that is what it is.

lordmarcovan

My guess:

4. Plated.

Tootawl

Do you know how much is weighs?

ms70

Standby & I'll see if I can weigh it on an Ohaus balance I was saving for eBay!

ms70

Approximately 3.5g

charley

Peru planchet

anoldgoat

You could take a pair of dikes and cut off a chunk. Good way to see if it's plated

And if it ain't ....

nwcs

Plated almost certainly

lordmarcovan

<< <i>My guesses:

1- Struck on a nickel planchet

2- Struck on a cent planchet that didn't get the copper layer

3- Struck on a planchet intended for coinage from another country

This was found in change. Any help is appreciated! >>



1. Not too likely, if you mean it was struck on a planchet for a US five-cent piece. I doubt that is even possible, but if it were, the result would be obvious. If you mean struck on a planchet made of nickel, you're talking about your third guess, which is a foreign planchet.

2. You are no doubt thinking of the modern zinc cents, which have an outer layer of copper. Trouble is, those were not struck until 1982. So a 1976 cent would be solid bronze, unless we are talking about:

3. A foreign planchet. It is remotely possible, I suppose, though I am not sure what sort of foreign planchets the mint was producing in '76. The US Mint strikes a number of coins for other countries, as you obviously knew.

4. As mentioned previously, it's probably just plated. But if you ever find a cent with a greyish silvery color that is dated after 1982, your second guess would be a possibility.

ms70

Just to add to the description, if you check the contact marks & rim ding, there's no evidence of copper. I'll be very disappointed
if plating is the case.

Would ANACS encapsulate something like this if it were plated?

LanLord

Could it be mercury coated? Mercury sticks very easily to many metals.

nwcs

A specific gravity test would be one way to tell if it's plated as well. But the mushy features lead one in that direction.

Dog97

Most likely plated. Schoolchildren do it in school. Here's how: Text

mozeppa

a nickel planchet WILL NOT pass through a cent feeder tube on the coin press.

rich

Plating cents with silver is a common promotional practice and is also common in high school electrolysis experiments. This is what you might have.

seanq

A normal copper (pre-1982) cent should weigh 3.0 grams. Yours is half a gram heavy, which indicates plating. Nothing several others haven't pointed out already, just adding to the body of evidence.


Sean Reynolds

Spinynorman

<< <i>Peru planchet >>



Coins for Peru that year were made of brass.

NumisMe

I agree with LanLord...Way back when I was in High School, we used to rub them with mercury which made them as shiney as a dime...for about a day.

Then we learned all about Mercury poisoning...

coppercoins

<< <i>A normal copper (pre-1982) cent should weigh 3.0 grams. Yours is half a gram heavy, which indicates plating. Nothing several others haven't pointed out already, just adding to the body of evidence.


Sean Reynolds >>



Actually that would be 3.11 grams.

Rampage

100% positive-it is a plated cent.

Sorry.

razorface1027

Could it be mercury coated? Mercury sticks very easily to many metals.

Like WOW! There is someone else that's heard of dipping coins in Mercury. When I was young, my uncle gave me half dimes. Along with the half dimes, he gave me a pill vial 3/4 the way full with Mercury and told me to dip coins in it to make them shiney. I did; therefore, destroying them. Boy, I wish I had those half dimes today.