Classic Head Cents way under weight?
planonit
Posts: 525 ✭✭
I had a 'nothing-to-do' day and went thru my safe at some the coins way in the back I rarely ever take out. I came to a batch of Classic Head Cents that I bought a long time ago.
I had my scale there and I when I pull coins out I try and test my self and I could not remember the weight of the coins. I thought it was 12 grams so instead of having to get up I just threw it on the scale there. It came in 9.74 grams. I could not believe I was that far off so I had to get up and check the book. They are listed at 10.89 grams.
That got me a little nervous there. So I weighed a few more. Many came in around 10.6-10.7 grams but these came back like this:
1813 --9.74
1812--9.23
1808-9.26
These are 'normal' coins. Not clipped, no holes, right diameter and width.
These coins must be fakes right? I mean why am I missing here? When I got these coins I did not even weigh them and a few of the better ones came back XF and AU details.
People have been making counterfeits for pretty much everything and have been doing it for a very long time but it is weird how these coins got to me.
Just weird.
I had my scale there and I when I pull coins out I try and test my self and I could not remember the weight of the coins. I thought it was 12 grams so instead of having to get up I just threw it on the scale there. It came in 9.74 grams. I could not believe I was that far off so I had to get up and check the book. They are listed at 10.89 grams.
That got me a little nervous there. So I weighed a few more. Many came in around 10.6-10.7 grams but these came back like this:
1813 --9.74
1812--9.23
1808-9.26
These are 'normal' coins. Not clipped, no holes, right diameter and width.
These coins must be fakes right? I mean why am I missing here? When I got these coins I did not even weigh them and a few of the better ones came back XF and AU details.
People have been making counterfeits for pretty much everything and have been doing it for a very long time but it is weird how these coins got to me.
Just weird.
I have plans....sometimes
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First, you made no mention of the specific scale that you used to weigh your coins. Like anything else, some scales are better than others. I use a triple beam balance scale, and calibrate it each time I use it. It has a resolution of 0.01 G (not to be confused with 'accuracy', which is a different entity). Some digital scales, while attractive for their price, have lower resolution, and more important, have less repeatability of measurements.
Also, you did not mention the various grades of the coins you weighed. Certainly, as a coin circulates, and encounters wear, some coin metal (copper) is lost. Looking at my database of records for my half dimes, when I list them in order of weight, they are also almost precisely listed in order of grade. As a coin wears, coin metal is lost, so its mass becomes less. Are the lower weight coins you have the lowest grade coins? Can you see a pattern where grade and weight seem to track? It is surprising to those who have never weighed a coin just how much mass is lost during circulation.
WHat is the greatest weight loss you have ever seen on a well-worn half dime. I once did a batch of "slick" Morgan dollars out of curiosity and found the average weight loss at about 7%. Another time I did a batch of slick Barber silver and got about the same average.
That is the scale that I use, and I am very happy with it.
Regarding the greatest weight loss that I have ever seen on a half dime, I would have to go back and study the data to be sure. The vast majority of the half dimes that I weighed are understandably in my preferred grade of AU-58, so there was little loss of mass in that grade. The range of coins that have been weighed extend from VG up to MS-63, possibly a couple of MS-64. I will check that data and give you a better answer later (I have to shovel out yet another snow storm this morning, in order to get ready for another one over the weekend). Perhaps some of the best coins to answer your question I never did weigh, but I could easily do so. For a couple of years prior to his death, the late Mark Smith, to whom the Logan/McCloskey half dime reference was dedicated, and I traded what we called "Challenge Coins", which were severely worn Capped Bust half dimes which almost certainly could not be attributed to die marriage due to their heavy wear. We found, with a lot of patience, these 'challenge coins' could be attributed, but they really challenged our attribution skills. I still have these coins, and will weigh a few to see if I can answer your question.