I'm going to be honest with ya here, I see a shiny copper penny in your pictures. I don't see any silver at all, maybe that's just me, but I looked on my phone initially, and now on my laptop and it still looks copper red/brown to me. If in your hand it has a shiny silver color, there are two and only two things that this can be in my opinion. 1 - Science experiment from Chemistry 101. We did it when I was a sophomore in high school; turned a penny black, gold, silver, **** we even did one that turned it bright green. 2 - It's a fake, why someone would fake such a common dated Wheat Cent is beyond me, but hey stranger things have happened. Now, don't come back yelling at me for giving you opinion on what I can see on my screen.
I would never come back yelling, haha. Im happy for anyones input here. It's as silver as a dime, the lighting I took the photos in was good for clarity of the photos, to see detail, not true colors. I'm going to get it weighed tomorrow.
Back in the 1950's, I purchased more than one keychain with a plated Lincoln cent encased in a bezel; they had a bright silver color. If a cent was struck on a dime planchet, it would look nothing like your photos. What you have, in my opinion, is a plated cent. Nothing more, nothing less.
Well, you yourself stated that it has a copper rim. What more proof do you need that its not a dime planchet?
My guess is you haven't read enough. How can you come here asking an opinion and then, having freely admitted your lack of knowledge, argue with the opinions offered? The folks here know what they are talking about when they give their opinion. I know you're hoping for the big score, but your cent is not your ticket to paradise.
In 1957 dime planchets were 90% silver, no copper should be showing anywhere. Therefore it's impossible that it was a dime planchet.
You guys are a bit jumpy! Haha. I am not trying to argue with anyone, or tell anyone they are wrong. I just wanted people to answer my questions a little more specifically. Someone says, looks fake, or no good, but that's it. I am not saying they are wrong, I just wanted to know why. I was looking for further explanation, not a different answer. I'm grateful for everyone's answers so far. Nobody needs to start pointing fingers at me, saying I'm arguing. Btw people, it weighs 2.69 g's on a jeweller's scale, and the lady said it looks like silver, but I wouldn't let her file it down and get a sample. So who knows, maybe some kid had a cool science kit, I don't know. I'm not expecting something big. It's just odd, And intriguing. But again, thank you everyone for trying to help. Anyone have anything more to add, knowing the weight?
Had someone suggest, maybe it was a previously pressed dime, pressed onto a penny planchet? Is that even possible? Sounds like a 1 in a trillion chance kind of thing to me, not a likely phenomena.
The wheat cents weigh 3.11 +/- 0.13 grams or from 2.98 to 3.24 grams And silver dime weigh 2.5 +/- 0.097 gram or from 2.403 to 2.597 grams. So 2.69 grams as weighed by the jewelers scale fits within neither weight range, too light for a cent and too heavy for a silver dime. If this thread follows similar ones, who wants to bring up foreign planchets Not me.
Foreign planchets? What are those? I'm just sorta confused about this dang penny. Maybe it was 2.59 it weighed, but I thought it said 2.69.
The U.S. Mint struck coinage on contract for many years to the specifications of those countries. I don't have the proper research books ( US Mint Annual Reports) to see what was contracted ( if any) that time and then find the specifications of each foreign coin. If someone is interested they might do the work. If none are found , it could only be a US cent that was hollowed out ( lighter weight~magician coin) , and then plated . For what reason I don't know. Interesting mystery
Good Luck. Most of the folks here no more than your typical coin dealer. Especially when it comes to "certain" coins.
The one advantage they have is that they can weigh the coin again, and also they can look carefully at the rim/edge to see is any plating/machining is possible, so ask about that. IMO.
So, I am just trying to understand, from what I've read in various threads here, I gather that - if you have a shiny whitish wheat penny with rainbow tones, it has likely been plated in a school science experiment? Thank You! I wondered why they looked like that! I'll try to keep the novice-type questions limited.