10 pfennig-off metal??

olmanjon

I have a 1971j 10 pfennig from germany in xf that I thought was plated. I had it electronically analized and it came back as75 % copper and 25% zinc. The size is right. Any ideas or comments.

ASUtodd

Copper core with Zinc plating... sounds right to me...
Todd

olmanjon

I have several other coins that have been plated and the plating only makes up 3% of the total not 25%.?????

ASUtodd

I wouldn't say you had anything special, as in a error coin. I could be wrong though, that happened to me once when I said, "I Do"......
Todd

spoon

Interesting...

There was an iron 1917-J and two types in zinc that year without mintmarks... but no zinc with a Hamburg mintmark so far as I know.

Definitely hold on to it and keep it safe until this gets figured out by more knowledgable folks than myself.

Any pics?

Edit: It is the same design as earlier 10pf pieces, right? Not notgeld? (which was prevalent at the time, much of it in zinc)

DCH

Does it stick to a magnet?? These should be brass plated steel. I suspect the 75%/25% you mention is the composition of the plating.

lordmarcovan

Spoon- I think he meant 1971 as typed, not 1917?

tbirde56

Yep, copper + zinc = brass. Throw in a bit of tin and you get bronze.

Udo

They are made of iron and plated with tombac which usually composed of 72% copper and 28% zinc.

tbirde56

Just a minor matter of semantics:
Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2 and 1.7 or 2.04% by weight (C:1000�10,8.67Fe), depending on grade.
Tombac is an alloy formed from 90% copper and 10% zinc.

(from Wikipedia.org)

spoon

<< <i>Spoon- I think he meant 1971 as typed, not 1917? >>

Doh!

bosox

Just out of curiosity, where did you get it analyzed and how much did it cost? I have a

olmanjon

The 10 pfennig is 1971j not 1917 as you have pointed out. According to the book it is brass coated steel. As far as I know this is reddish in color. Mine is grey in color. It is magnetic, so seems like it is coated with an alloy of zinc and copper not tin and copper. My brother is an electrical engineer who works for a company that has a machine that can analize the material. The machine said that it was 75% copper and 25% zinc. This is not the right combination of metals for this coin even if it is the plating.?????

olmanjon

Tombac-ok--How come it is the wrong color? Been plated with zinc??