Micro bubbles on a Lincoln cent

NumisOxide

I have a uncirculated 1982 Small Date Zinc Lincoln cent. I was just wondering what the raised tiny bubbles are on the coins fields and portrait. The obverse and reverse have this. Is this a planchet defect and if you know what might of caused this to happen. Thanks in advance.

thebeav

Hi JP,
Ever since 1982, our cents have been copper plated zinc. In the plating process, when a cents surface isn't perfectly clean, there is poor adhesion of the surface copper. This will often result in the tiny bubbles that you are seeing.
I think, many years into the future, nice examples of many of our cents will probably be quite scarce.

Paul

kranky

thebeav is right. And in the first couple years that the copper-plated zinc planchets were used, this problem was particularly bad. Not unusual at all to see those bubbles on 1982/83 cents.

JRocco

Not too unusual at all.

haletj

The bubbles might affect eye appeal a little making the coin not grade so high, but they don't affect it technically. I have a pcgs ms68 1983 (highest graded) that still has some bubbles.