1972-S brown

Res

I sent the coin on the right in for grading because I was curious about the odd color. It weighs 3.1 grams. Several people told me that it probably wasn't off-metal and was most likely plated and not to waste my time. It only cost $14, so I figured I'd let PCGS have a look at it. It came back AU-58 brown. There aren't any brown's listed in the population report for San Francisco for 1972 or any other year that I could find. Can anyone elaborate on what this designation means and if it's valuable? Thanks

ArgentumRex

Copper can change color from "red" to "brown" over time. you've probably seen very red cents, and very brown older cents. They also use the "red-brown" designation for in between coins. You're not seeing a listing for it because few have likely been certified, because few have likely been submitted. It's a lower grade example of a very modern coin with a mintage of 376,939,108. It's not rare or valuable, and is worth less that a red coin would be. The value of the coin is approximately $0.01

Hadleydog

Welcome aboard, Res.

cladking

Welcome aboard.

MikeJessie1

Res

Thanks for the welcome and the quick response. I have never seen a penny tone that color and was just curious as it's not really brown, but almost brass colored. Oh well.

ArgentumRex

I should add that they also use the term brown to mean "not red." Cents can sometimes tone in various colors. If you had a cent that had turned blue, for example, they would call it brown.

Wolf359

There's a mint error submission service (with a higher fee), separate from just grading. If you sent it in
for regular grading, it was probably just graded, and not checked for off-metal. Are you going to any shows? Have ANACS take a look at it for free.