I am not a coin collector, but have gotten a penny that I do not understand. At first it appeared to be a normal penny that was quite blackened and dirty. Then I noticed that it was silver so I assumed that it was one of the "silver pennies" from WWII. But the date was 1989. When minimally cleaned and magnified reveals that it is a 3 layer sandwich of what appears to be copper in the center with a thin silver layer on each side. What is it? THX
1989 cents are copper plated zinc. The coin described by the OP cannot be a cent. Maybe a badly worn clad dime?
I apologize for being a bit of an amateur about posting all of this. And I do not have a lens that will focus as closely as I would like. So I am hoping that you can zoom in on the pics. But it is clear that this a 1989 penny and it is clad not electroplated, as the layers are visible completely around the edge and can actually be felt
Back in the "good old days" we would apply a coat of liquid mercury to both sides of a Lincoln cent. For awhile, it would shine like a silver proof... but after a few days it would begin to get dull, eventually taking on the appearance of your coin. So that would be my guess. Other methods would be to carefully dip the coin in molten lead or similar, coating only the obverse and reverse surfaces (notice what appears to be "splatter" on the edge). Someone messed with this coin awhile back... and now you are the proud owner! Anyway, I keep all my odd-ball coins in a big jar... and there's plenty of 'em out there.
I read every post on this thread and could not believe some of the answers in the posts. to the op be careful with this coin and take good care of it . I think you may have a awesome find here . this coin just flat out screams cent struck on clad dime planchet. I can't believe the other posters missed this . the copper center is a dead giveaway that this is probably on a dime planchet. welcome to the coin talk forum
looks like you may have partially solved this one without seeing the photos. you sure did pretty good with this one rick .
hey guys please don't down someone's coin until you give them a chance to get it checked out to see for sure what they have. I have seen a few really good error coins called junk on here by a few ct members . the op's coin has gone thru a lot of abuse but it still looks like it may be a cent struck on a clad dime planchet.if it is it was struck perfectly on center.
No not really , a cent struck on a clad dime planchet is easily identified by looking at the clad layers on the edge of the coin. I suppose weighing one would help to further clarify it.
Do you have stock in one of the grading companies? I think a blind man could tell it's not what you say it is.
Well darn it don't blame me , old Rascal my little jack russel terrier told me what he thought it was.I may have to fire him if he got this one wrong.
I do not see anything that would indicate it is a cent on a dime planchet. I am in the zinc lab experiment group. Remember that if heat is present, the zinc coated surface such as the edge can turn brass.The edge is too rough and there are bubbles on the date and other areas. Perhaps it was held around the edge with something to get an even plate on both sides, but look at the color, much more zinc looking than cu-ni looking. IMO. I am with the gator, weigh it. Jim