I know nothing about errors, please help me out

Aethelred

I bought this and a few other errors today and would like some info on what it might be worth. I have the highest respect for the people on this forum.

This is a 1997 Cent that is missing the copper plating. The coin does have hairlines on both sides and seems to have just a bit of corrosion on the reverse. What should I expect to sell this for? Should I sell it raw or send it to ANACS first for a net grade (PCGS will BB it).

anoldgoat

I thought zinc had a problem with O2. Am I wrong?

rich

What else did you find? BTW Nice pic.I would sell it raw.Whatever you can get for it I don't usually look for these, But my guess is around $10-$15.Anybody else here have a price point on these?

Zinc has a problem with moisture.Drop a zinc copper cent in water and it will corrode faster than a copper cent.

Coulport

The first ones that showed up in the early 80s got slabbed and brought up to $125.
Soon the 'doctors' figured out how to strip the copper plating and the market dropped.
Can't recall seeing one slabbed dated in the 90s. I'm wondering if the TPGs will even grade them anymore.

Where if Fred when you need him?

Aethelred

<< <i>What else did you find? >>



They are shown in another thread.

seanq

First thing you should do is weigh it. If it is real it should weigh around 2.3 grams, if it is plated it will weigh around 2.6 grams. There are very convincing fakes out there, I bought a 1984 that I was sure was the real thing and it was plated.

If it is the real thing, I'd suggest searching eBay or Fred Weinberg's website for comparable coins. There's not a lot of buzz around these errors right now (I used to know a guy working on a date set of these but he's long since sold it off) so I'd guess the value to be on the low side, probably less than $50 or so.


Sean Reynolds

rottnrog

Personally I would never buy an unplated cent unless it was certified. There are a lot out there that look real but aren''t!!

I sent 5 in to ANACS and 2 came back fake and I couldn't tell any difference in the 5!!

Rob790

Looks plated. Look at the reverse where all of the visable copper areas are also on the raised areas. This makes sense in that those areas are the places most likely to have grease or other contamination that would block the plating. There is no way that those areas would somehow also be the areas plated on the planchet prior to striking and by chance wound up on the high points.

errormaven

I agree, it looks plated. The spots of copper on the reverse are not typical of unplated cents, nor is the exceedingly shiny finish.

The weight of a genuine unplated cent will be a few hundredths of a gram lower than the average 2.5g, but may still fall within the normal range of variation for unplated cents. A plated cent will usually weigh a few hundredths more than the typical 2.5g, but again may still fall within the normal range of variation. Weight is not a foolproof method of distinguishing real from fake unplated cents.

--Mike Diamond

Conder101

I agree with errormaven that weight is pretty much useless on authenticating an unplated cent. A copper plated cent is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams +/- .13 grams. The weight of the copper plating on the coin is only .0009 grams. An insignificant amount compared to even the tolerence allowance.

One thing to look for on a cent that missed the copper plating is actually a very light dusting of copper on the coin. As the normal cents are struck the dies pick up a light coating of copper dust. then when an unplated planchet comes through, some of this copper dust is struck into the surface of the coin.

seanq

Sounds like I shouldn't have dismissed my 2.6 gram "unplated" 1984 cent so quickly. My apologies to aethelred for the bum advice, and thanks Mike & Mike for setting me straight.


Sean Reynolds

FredWeinberg

In my opinion, this coin has been plated.


Fred

errormaven

One thing to look for on a cent that missed the copper plating is actually a very light dusting of copper on the coin. As the normal cents are struck the dies pick up a light coating of copper dust. then when an unplated planchet comes through, some of this copper dust is struck into the surface of the coin. >>



I have seen a light coating of copper dust on some unplated cents, although I suspect this was on the planchet to start with, and not struck into the cent.

Some genuine unplated cents do not have a trace of copper. I have two that I am confident are genuine, and neither show any copper.

There are many mysteries surrounding uplated and partially plated cents. The pattern of coverage can be quite irregular or downright bizarre (e.g. bullseye patterns, angular patterns, speckling) on partially plated cents. No known step in the plating process readily accounts for this dramatic variation in coverage. Plenty left to research here.

--Mike Diamond

errormaven

<< <i>Sounds like I shouldn't have dismissed my 2.6 gram "unplated" 1984 cent so quickly. My apologies to aethelred for the bum advice, and thanks Mike & Mike for setting me straight.

I strongly suspect that your dismissal was correct. 2.6 grams seems too far out of tolerances to be a genuine unplated cent. The unplated planchets I've weighed ranged from 2.42 to 2.48 grams.

Of course, you always have to consider the occasional outlier.

--Mike Diamond


Sean Reynolds >>