Two oddball pennies - help out please

swest

I was going through a friend's coin collection and helping him identify potential value and came across two very odd pennies.

1) 1948 Lincoln Wheat - no mint mark and has a very silvery, yellow look to it. It is not a traditional copper penny that much is certain (at least from color). It mostly resembles the steel pennies more than traditional copper.

2) a 1999 Lincoln that looks just like a steel penny in pretty good shape. It does seem to be a little thinner on one side of the coin. The top portion (from Lincoln's head) is the normal width, then it slants down thinner as it goes towards the bottom.

If I can I will get some pictures here real soon. Any ideas would be great!

Swest

Leiana

The 1999 penny was probably made on a zinc only planchet without the copper. I have no idea about the 1948. WELCOME!

-Amanda

coincollecter15

mozeppa

welcome...

in the forties and fifties there were a lot of cents that were "silvered"....or mercury dipped.

no added value.

coppercoins

1. Probably cleaned with Brasso or some other abrasive cleaner. Probably a no-value whacked coin, but nobody can really tell without an image.

2. Either an unplated cent or a cent with the plating chemically removed. Former is worth a sawbuck or two, latter is another no-value curiosity.

Most "wrong texture, wrong color" cents are cleaned, dipped, environmentally damaged, or otherwised messed with coins that have no value, and are very often mistaken by new collectors to be something odd or collectible. It's only once in a great while that these turn out to be something of significance.