1944 thick lincoln cent

I recently acquired a thick 1944 Lincoln wheat cent. However it is not a Pollock 2078 Variety as it weighs only 3.24 grams and not 4.09 grams. It is approx. 19 mm in diameter and it thickness ranged from 1.56 - 1.63 mm (compared to 1.50 - 1.54mm on a normal wheat cent). At my coin club meeting we discussed this cent as being extremely similar in weight and size to a 1944 Canadian cent. Did the US mint strike blanks for Canada in 1944? Any information on this would be appreciated. thanks Mike

 

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Can you post photos of both sides and the edge?

Chris

 

Both my copies of Foreign Coins Struck at the US Mint are at the office. Now that's real smart .

 

Well go get it. We will wait.

 

Still waiting...

 

FWIW, your extra thickness accounts nearly exactly for the extra weigh. It sounds to me like all you have is a coin where the planchet was not rolled thin enough. You variance on the thickness gives credence to that also.

 

We struck no coins for Canada. In 1944 we struck small copper coins for several countries BUT NONE approaching this weight. Guatemala 1 centavo is the closest at 3 grams.

I'll go with @rlm's cents: struck on thick stock opinion above.

 

Question: After the blank strips are rolled, aren't they checked to ensure the proper thickness?

Chris

 

And when was the last time the mint cared about quality control?!

 

When they are rolling strips for gold coins!

Chris

 

I am sure they are spot checked. But no one does 100% inspection for anything of significant quantity. I would be surprised if they do 1 in a thousand.

 

You got me there, Chris.

 

During the war years, re-melts and do-overs were likely less often.

 

I recall that someone once posted a video clip about the minting process. Does anyone remember that?

Chris

 

That's what I've thought; however, the strips are long. I should think it was possible to miss something at one end. Plus it was wartime.

And WE DO KNOW that on several occasions in our lifetime coins have been minted and released into circulation struck on oversize (thick) planchets.

 

In the absence of any other evidence, the default diagnosis would be a planchet punched out of rolled-thick stock. Such errors occur in most years and range from slightly overweight (like yours) to weights up to 4.2 grams.

 

Thanks for the information, it is what I suspected to start but thought I might dream a little. Mike Smith

 

Also the strip will vary in thickness. It will not be absolutely uniform (That's why they have a tolerance allowance. If the strip was absolutely uniform, if you rolled it to the proper thickness every coin would weight precisely the proper amount.) So even if they check the thickness and it is correct, some areas of the strip will still be a little thicker and some a little thinner.

 

That makes sense!

Chris

 

1944 was one of the main years for extra thick pennies