1993 Zinc penny

theboz11

Any chance of this having some value. Appears that it never had any copper on it. Or can this be done chemically?

nwcs

Looks like an acid job to me, that is a post mint alteration.

theboz11

Thanks, I'll put it in a gumball machine

Shamika

$0.01

Jdurg

<< <i>Looks like an acid job to me, that is a post mint alteration. >>



It cannot be an acid job. Any acid that will dissolve copper (Nitric acid or concentrated sulfuric acid) would immediately eat through all of the zinc. (Especially since once it got through a tiny bit of the copper shell, the zinc would react much quicker). What can be done, however, is placing a copper/zinc penny in a solution of ammonium nitrate. That is able to complex the copper metal but not the zinc, therefore removing the copper without harming the zinc. It takes some time to do it, but it can give you a nice 'zinc' penny.