1996 one sided penny

First, the coin is well below the standard weight of a zinc cent (2.5 grams versus 2.34 grams). Second, there is no rim on the shaved side, it is completely smooth and the zinc is exposed. Third, I saw kids doing that sort of thing all the time in machine shop class. Even the instructor gave a demonstration in shaving metal using a coin, with remarkable results. Given the way that coins are minted, there is almost no way that one side can be given a sharp design while the other side remains completely smooth.

 

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The OP is about to get a $50 lesson.

 

Post mint damage 100%, Very clear and good advice from members here. Do not waist your money on TPG´s

 

Here is one I found in my change a few years back. Don't think they are worth much ..

 

It is strange that the obverse weighs more than the reverse. L.

 

We are talking about a $10 scale here ... :yes: And it actually dropped to 2.8 after I snapped the photo. Did'nt think it was important enough to take another snapshot.

 

Well everyone, the mystery deepens. It looks like DaveMN has pretty much the same thing as the OP, but with better pictures. It sure doesn't look like the reverse had been milled/shaved/filed off. It actually looks convex, which would have been much harder to achieve than simple machining, but much harder to explain with the minting process.Dave, did you have yours authenticated?

 

No, I have'nt. And the closest coin dealer from where I live is about 60 miles south, in Duluth. I don't have any extra $$$ laying around to send it off to ANACS either. I guess I have always assumed that it was altered post-mint, and it is really just a conversation piece. Will try to remember to take it along when we go school clothes shopping for the kids later this month.

 

i am a machinist(w/degree in physics) & i said so in post #27. i wasnt going to reveal that but i needed to be obvious that i know ''tool marks'' when i see them. which is why i say this coin isnt pmd. i do NOT believe this quote above either. i've seen my coin under 12x magnification and the grain of the metal is very distinct w/no tool marks of any kind. my coin does look like daveMN pics in post 44, except my copper is missing for the most part on the blank side. i also noticed his has no rim which everyone has said a penny should have even if its blank but been thru the press. i still plan to get it looked at. i will post here what i learn. i would still like to hear some pricing on a legit one sided penny & not just members sayin ''its not possible''

 

As a "machinist with a degree in physics", you should be aware that the technology for shaving coins and smoothing them to a nice finish has existed for at least 160 years. It was popular in the latter half of the 1800s, for example, to make "love tokens" which consisted of circulation coins that were shaved or planed on one side to give them a smooth finish, then engraved with some sort of design and/or message. You should look at some of these love tokens and examine the degree to which they were shaved. Some of them kept their rims, while the rims of others were shaved off. Some were smoothed so well that it is difficult to see that it was post-mint damage. And if the technology for doing that professionally existed in the 1800s, it stands to reason that the technology exists today as well, and has almost certainly been improved in the meantime.

http://www.kenbarr.com/morelove.html

 

Regards to pricing your coin,

As your coin does not fall into any catagory or known errors as stated by members here " as it´s missing some rules of minting " it is hard to pinpoint a price. If you take the closest thing possible wich is a uniface strike then pricing range from 50-75 USD depending on grade.

Seen here
http://minterrornews.com/priceguide.html

If that does not fall into what you thoguth and you think this is more off a rare speciment about to change history of error coins then I would price it as high as you feel right.

Hope it goes well for you, It´s always nice to see something groundbreaking in our error collecting hobby
Siggi

 

It's not the machining process... that will always leave tool marks. It's the post machining (polishing) process that eliminates all signs of the actual machining. Why would someone take the time to do this? I haven't a clue. Maybe I can get one of my co-workers out in the shop to put a cent in the surface grinder and then buff out the marks. See if it can be done as simply as it sounds.

If this 'error' happened during the minting process, I would need an explanation as to how.

 

Again - where I worked we called them slugs, they would bring a truck of them in from the mint to be remelted , I have seen these in nickle also. They brought guards with the shipment to make sure they were melted . Once in a great while
you would see one that bounced out of the container going to be melted , but usually had been ran over by a forklift that
they were useless. Some employes tried taking one out and got caught which they lost their job.
Sandy

 

Why is this thread still around? LOL

It never fails to amaze me when multiple, experienced, knowledgeable collectors tell somebody a coin is PMD'd and the OP fights them. :arguing: LOLOLOL

Send your "error" to PCGS registered mail and insured for $1,000,000, we are all wrong and you're right. If you know so much about errors, then why did you post your coin here?

 

Why does that not amaze you? It certainly amazes me.

 

LOL

Left out a NEVER in my haste!

 

I'm not saying one way or another because I know very little of the minting process (wish I knew more)...so I would like to take this opportunity to ask a couple of general questions and maybe learn something of the minting process.

First, a brief description of something I do know a little about...

Years ago I worked as a "pellet weld mechanic" at an electronics manufacturing plant. We used a vibrating bowl with a ramp on the inside wall to hold the pellets. As the bowl vibrated, the pellets would move up the ramp to a plastic chute. There was just enough room for one pellet to enter the chute (length-wise). The pellets would jostle about until one lined itself up and slid down the chute...waiting its turn to be grabbed by a claw and have a wire welded to its backside.

If the track became worn, the pellets would get jammed. On very rare occasions (inattentive mechanic) two pellets could go down the chute at the same time and it wasn't "impossible" for two pellets to go down the track (one on top of the other) and enter the claw exactly lined up and have a wire welded to their collective backsides. I've never seen it happen, but it was "possible".

In SILVERHOARDER's case, I can't explain the lack of copper or the difference in weight...that certainly seems suspicious. However, as far as one rim appearing "upset" and the other not, I would think that if two (2) planchets entered the coining chamber perfectly aligned, one might expect the touching rims would get mashed down. Again, I don't know how this all works and if the collar comes into play, etc, etc. ...but it seems logical that the rims would appear as they do in that particular scenario (assuming that scenario is even possible).

...but I have to agree...the Shop Class scenario seems the most plausible (given all the other information).

Oh...I guess my general question is..."How DOES that all work?" ...the minting process, I mean.

 

BadThad, who are you talking to?

I posted my penny here because I was interested in how it was made, not how much it was worth.

And I'm certain that no one put a gun to your head and made you read this thread. If it is such a dead discussion to you, then why are you replying to it ? Move along ..

 

He probably weighed the Obverse after he wiped that hunk of gum off the Reverse.

 

I have said all I can for myself because the machines at the factory I worked at were owned by the UNITED STATES
MINT. We had to be screened etc. even before being hired, I was hired right out of high school. Every once in awhile
the MINT had surprise inspections making sure equipment was up to classification.
I was a machine operator then worked as a inspector and lab until my illness. That is why I had to leave early because
I could not meet the standards or their requirements for vision
Sandy