1985 D Penny

Can someone please share some knowledge with me I'm at a complete loss.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Looks steel. Wow. How/where did you find this?

 

What you’re seeing is the zinc core of the cent. Someone removed the copper plating.

 

(“Copper-stripping” pennies now. . .times are rough. . .)

How, exactly, was copper removed so cleanly/completely;
(why is this not more commonly seen?)​

 

https://sciencewithscreens.blogspot.com/2016/08/experiment-59-stripping-copper-coating.html

 

An acid bath would do this very thing.

 

Someone removed the copper coating from this coin which is zinc. Only worth one cent as it’s damaged.

 

I still like it and will keep it. It's not just how much it's worth I just like neat looking coins. TY all

 

I like it too. Eye catching

 

I bet that cent has a slightly larger diameter than a typical cent. If you strike a modern cent a few times with a hammer, the copper will fall away. It also causes the cent to grow slightly in diameter.

 

If you like it then by all means keep it. It’s a great educational piece.

 

The inner core of a copper plated Zinc planchet has a similar appearance to steel. It is not steel. Zinc is not ferromagnetic and would not be attracted to a magnet. As stated the thin copper plating was removed.