Different Colored 1986 Lincoln

joecheck

Does anyone know why this 1986 Lincoln is this color? I found it a couple of days ago.

kryptonitecomics

Could be copper or gold washed? I have a cent that looks similar and I think it's from the 80's......

richbeat

These are called brass plated cents, and occurs during the copper plating process. If zinc blanks are left in the copper plate for an extended period of time, they begin to dissolve and "contaminate" the copper plate. The more zinc that dissolves in the copper plate, the more yellowish the look, hence brass plated. If I recall correctly, this was especially common on 1985 cents and a couple of other dates.

Some dealers were hyping these a few years back, but I haven't seen any ads lately. I don't think demand was ever very strong.

joecheck

THX!