Copper mercury dime

rec78

A friend of mine has this 1917 mercury dime and it appears to be copper compostion or copper plated. It weighs 2.40 grams it is worn and is about in vg condition.
Could this possible be a dime struck in copper? It is the correct size for dime, so that rules out a lincoln cent planchet. A normal mercury dime should weigh 2.50 grams when unc...If a cent were the size of a dime how much would it weigh? I suspect it is a heavy copper plate but i have no way to tell for sure unless the weight would give it away is why i ask this question. If it is copper what would its value be? I would appreciate any and all opinions. Thanks, Bob

Cladiator

I don't know what you've got there but I've seen some old silver that was dug by metal detectorists that have a similar appearance.

commoncents05

i don't think it's copper or copper plated, i think it just toned that color, i see quite a few like this.

-Paul

rec78

Sorry i failed to mention--it is definety not just toning-the reverse looks the same--it was partially filed on the lower obverse but not deep-i have examined this coin under a microscope and still can't tell.I know my scan sucks but it is all i have at this time. The main queston is: If a cent were dime sized how much would it weigh? I know someone out there can calculate this somehow. Thanks, Bob

DWT

Unless it's a cast copy, I doubt it's copper.

RichieURich

There is a size problem here. For a Mercury dime to be minted on a copper planchet, the copper planchet must be smaller than the normal cent planchet. It's certainly possible, but much more unlikely than the opposite error, a cent struck on a (smaller) dime planchet. I'd suggest sending a PM to Fred Weinberg, Michael Byers, or RichErrors.

FredWeinberg

It's not a mint error;

It's either copper-plated,
darkly copper toned,
or a contemporary counterfiet.

Byers

It's not a genuine mint error.

StrikeOutXXX

Is there any chance it was a foreign planchet?

Unless I missed one, the only two the Philadelphia mint struck for other countries that were close were the 1917 Ecuador 2 1/2 Centavo, but it was 19mm at 2.5 grams, and the 1917 Nicaragua 1/2 Centavo at 17mm and 2.5 grams. According to this chart, the Ecuador would be impossible, but the Nicaragua might work - 95% copper, 5% zinc/tin???

dorkkarl

environmental damage can easily duplicate that exact look. i'd suspect not copper.

K S

Cladiator

Cut it in half and see what the insides look like.

errormaven

I've learned never to say never. There's always a small chance that you've got an anomalous off-metal error. You would first need to perform a specific gravity test to see if it's silver or copper and go on from there. SG for 90% silver alloy is around 10.32 while that of copper is 8.96.

Regulated

Its weight is exactly what you would expect for a well-worn silver Mercury Dime. I would have to say that there is less thn a .1% chance that it is struck in copper.

notwilight

I can hear the mischeivous mint employee laughing, "This error will be worth millions but the owner will never convince anyone it is real. He'll end up destroying it to prove it....ha...ha...ha..."

RichErrors

First rule for authenticating is the coins weight

in either Grams or grains. Mercury dime should weigh 38.50 gr or 2.50 g or NEAR that.. Mints tol levels 1.50 in gr
& .097 in grams.

Scales are under $60 on Ebay and I never travel without one.

Is the coin heavy or light? does the reeding have wear or extra lumps of metal from plating? questions to be addressed

Good luck
Thanx
Rich Schemmer
Rich Schemmer Error Coins
http://WWW.RichErrors.com/store.php

StrikeOutXXX

Do you have a micrometer to measure the diameter? The problem with the .01% chance it is on the foreign planchet I mentioned (1917 Nicaragua 1/2 Centavo) is it too weighs 2.5 grams, just like the merc, so you're not going to tell the two apart by the weight. The 1/2 Centavo planchet was 17mm to begin with, and the merc is normally 17.9mm. What I don't know [help error gurus] is if the slightly smaller foreign planchet would expand slightly to meet the collar, making it too 17.9mm, or if it would stay 17mm after being struck.

bhartman35

There's always a chance that it was just a mint employee screwing around. But I think the thing you have to ask yourself is, "How could this happen in the normal minting process?". If it's not the size of a Lincoln cent planchet, then there's no way it could be a dime struck in copper.

That leaves three possibilities:

1) Plating
2) Corrosion
3) It's a piece of copper someone fashioned to look like a Mercury dime.

I don't see someone taking a piece of silver and plating it in copper (any more than you would take a piece of gold and plate it with silver).

Like other people, I say, weigh it and post the results.

Conder101

A copper planchet the size of a dime would weigh 2.1 grams To light to be your coin. It is almost certainly either a discolored dime or a plated coin.