Silver 1997 lincoln penny? Anybody?

remainincognito · August 5, 2004 8:21AM

I'm new to this. I got a silver 1997 lincoln penny for change one day and havn't seen one before. It is magnetic. Anybody tell me about this?

remainincognito · August 5, 2004 8:29AM

Did someone just dip this or were a number of these made? It looks as though it is brand new.

coinguy89 · August 5, 2004 8:35AM

Its a fake. Worth nothing.

Iwog · August 5, 2004 9:48AM

Lets not jump to conclusions. Show it to a coin dealer for an opinion, then if both of you think it might be genuine send it to ANACS for certification.

In addition to steel, pure nickel is magnetic also and there is plenty of nickel floating around the US mint. Maybe it's an error.

coinguy89 · August 5, 2004 9:50AM

<< <i>Lets not jump to conclusions. Show it to a coin dealer for an opinion, then if both of you think it might be genuine send it to ANACS for certification.

In addition to steel, pure nickel is magnetic also and there is plenty of nickel floating around the US mint. Maybe it's an error. >>

I suppose your right, get it checked out.

RBinTex · August 5, 2004 10:00AM

It's either a regular cent without the copper coating (unplated) or it is struck on a dime planchet. You can easily tell which by checking the diameter to see if it matches up to a dime or cent. If a dime (& I'm getting out of my elemnt here) it might be a silver planchet (extremely rare) or more probably a clad planchet (more than likely if the diameter matches to a dime). Of course someone could've also plated a regular cent in a white metal.

Sorry, that's all the info I can offer except - GET IT CHECKED OUT.

cladking · August 5, 2004 11:28AM

In all probability it's nickel plated. I'm guessing it's not very strongly magnetic
which is typical for plated coins. You might try comparing it to a steel cent of
1943. There are numerous ways a magnetic blank could be made or stuck at
the mint but all are unlikely.

MassFullStepper · August 5, 2004 12:49PM

Funny this came up....just yesterday, a buddy had a 1979-D Lincoln cent that is silver. It was VERY slightly magnetic, as cladking pointed out....I looked at it, weighed it (came in at just about right on the nubs for copper weight) and determined it to be plated.....wet sanded it with 1000 grit paper (IF it were real, wetsanding with 1,000 would have made it look just a bit buffed out, but the red came out from underneath the plating, sooo....) I was almost embarassed to bring it up here....why on EARTH would anyone waste their time plating this 1979-D or remainincognito's 1997?