Any ideas on why a 1863 Indian penny would weigh 4.18 grams

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Sm83
Sm83 Posts: 37 ✭
in Q & A Forum

I have a 1863 Indian penny that weighs 4.1 grams

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  • MsMorrisine
    MsMorrisine Posts: 40,041 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Post a picture of it on a scale

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • Oldhoopster
    Oldhoopster Posts: 2,930 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Could be lot of things. Corrosion, damage, scale set up or calibration, scale operator error, thin planchet, something else?

    Need focused, cropped pics of the coin. Seeing a small coin with lots of background, or fuzzy images doesn't help

    BTW weight standard for an 1863 cent is 4.67 grams, not the 3.11 grams that started with the composition change in 1864, in case anybody was wondering

    Member of the ANA since 1982
  • Sm83
    Sm83 Posts: 37 ✭
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  • Sm83
    Sm83 Posts: 37 ✭
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    Nickel is to show that my scales are accurate....

  • MsMorrisine
    MsMorrisine Posts: 40,041 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Looks to be acid treated

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • Sm83
    Sm83 Posts: 37 ✭
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    Yeah I know the weight is suppose to be 4.67 grams...With that being said .5 grams is a lot and the penny does not have that much damage

  • Oldhoopster
    Oldhoopster Posts: 2,930 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The cent has a lot of corrosion/environmental damage. With that much damage, it would be nearly impossible to determine if there is actually something else going on. The most likely cause of the weight loss is the obvious corrosion. Saying "it doesn't look like that much damage" isn't very useful data to claim it was an underweight planchet or some other error.

    To paraphrase the 14th century Franciscan Monk and philosopher William of Ockham - the simplest explanation is usually the best explanation.

    Member of the ANA since 1982
  • ifthevamzarockin
    ifthevamzarockin Posts: 8,915 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The loss of weight is from corrosion.

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 27, 2021 1:15PM
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    Heavily corroded and wire brushed is my guess.

    P.S. - Your good pics make it easier to diagnose.

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