Thread: 1973 No mint mark Aluminum Penny

I am not a coin collector (except in my pocket). However cleaning out my Sons piggy bank and rolling the coins we came across a "Shiny 1973 penny". I have google... so that is what I did and up poped the 1974 aluminum penny, I hit the image button and THAT is what it looks like, Silver tint but 1973 not 1974 and no mint mark. I hope the picture of it uploaded for you to view. ANY help would help..... Thank you for your time!

It's most likely plated by a silver colored metal. I've gone through 1000's of cents and have found many of these. Since this is classified as post mint damage, this adds no extra value.

Need to get an accurate weight on you cent,before any conclusions can be made

Originally Posted by KoinJester

Need to get an accurate weight on you cent,before any conclusions can be made

May I add, to the hundredth of a gram.

Hundredth of a gram would be nice but tenth of a gram will be good enough to confirm it is NOT aluminum. A plated copper cent will weigh 3.1 grams and an aluminum cent weigh less than one gram.

Go down to the section "How does it work" to see ways to change the surface of a cent. This experiment is a classic and is done in thousands of chemistry classes and the students often just eventually spend them into circulation.

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/...t/gold-pennies

Jim