Please chime in: Are steel cents "coated" and current zinc cents "plated?"

I have tried researching this online.

My understanding is that zinc cents are "plated," but 1943 cents are "coated." Or...

If they are both dipped in a bath to have the outer layer applied, is it approptiate to say both are "plated/coated" or is there a difference?

 

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I here most saying zinc plated steel and copper plated zinc. I'm sure folks understand either term.

 

Coated is a different procces. Because 1943 Cents were able to be reprocessed in order to recoat or plate them. Can't do that with plated cents.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_steel_cent

Quote - "Since many steel cents corroded and became dull soon after entering circulation, some dealers who sold the coins as novelties improved their appearance by "reprocessing" – stripping off the old zinc coating and then replating them with zinc or chrome. These reprocessed coins are sometimes described as brilliant uncirculated, or similar terms, by ignorant or unscrupulous online sellers." Closed quote

 

I found and already knew about the reprocessing, but I cant find how the zinc coating was applied to the 1943 metal sheets. Were they dipped in liquid zinc? Cents Today are submerged in an electroplating bath

 

Oh boy. Good question. I think this will be a long thread. Is this one of those stamped , struck , pressed , or punched questions.

 

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I'm going with your assessment.

 

Bingo. That is something i do know. Your on a roll today. Well in 2008 too.

 

Interesting question. What immediately pops into my mind is that the 1943 cents are not "plated" on the edges which caused rusting to start, while the copper "plated" modern cents have fully covered edges. Leads me to believe that the 1943 cents were made from planchets more similar to the Cu-Ni coinage (where we can see the copper on the edge) than the modern cents.

 

Well, seems that the steel metal sheets were dipped in zinc (galvanized). But when punched out during blanking, the edges were bare steel leaving them susceptible to rust. Circulation and handling also wore away the coating on the sides, leaving them susceptible, too. Thus steel cents were coated because they were dipped in a molten liquid, like M&Ms.

Plating for copper-plated cents (starting in 1982) is caused from positively charged copper ions being attracted to negatively charged zinc planchets while sitting in an electrolyte solution using electro currents; this is electroplating. And I have to think they are plated after the rims are added, and then struck. Corrupted plating leaving exposed zinc can lead to zinc rot.

I think I am good now. The key was understanding why and also how the zinc was applied to steel cents and when. Thanks, y'all.

 

No, @JCro57 , that is incorrect. There has been a whole lot of speculation and very little actual fact reported in this thread.

The 1943 cents were definitely not galvanized. Galvanized planchets were evaluated by the Mint and they found they were completely unacceptable.

The reference you desire is "United States Pattern and Experimental Pieces of WWII" by Roger Burdette. He goes into great detail about all of the experiments to design the new coins, and gives detailed technical descriptions of the final result.

On page 106, he describes the final choice:

"A thin zinc coating had to be applied by electroplating - not dipping - and the coating thickness was specified as 0.0005 inches."

 

Nice. And I suppose the sheets were electroplated and not individual planchets as done with cents today

 

No, the individual planchets were.

 

Don't doubt what you say, but if the planchets were plated, why was there no plating on the edges, or was there?

 

Correct, the sheets were plated in 1943 and then blanks punched out. Today blanks are punched from the sheet and then plated. Makes recycling the zinc to make more sheets easier. No copper contamination.

 

Wow. I typed in every possible word to do a search. I would never have found that book even existed without you! Thanks so much.

 

So you say the sheets were plated, physics says the steel planchets were. Hmm...

 

@Conder101 , that is partially correct. As Roger states:

"Initially, the San Francisco Mint cut their own blanks from zinc coated strip. The weight of these coins was higher than specified for the first 200,000 struck."

Because these weighed more, the official weight standard was changed, and the process was changed.

"A zinc coating was electrolytically deposited on the blanks."

 

I think Physics either misspoke or was thinking about todays zinc cents.

After seeing Physics last pst I think I am going to have to review the book, but that is the first I've seen referenceing plating of the blancks in 43. I think it must be wrong because if the blanks were plated the edges would be plated as well and we know the edges are NOT plated.

 

I am literally reading from Roger's book with it open in front of me. If Roger got it wrong after all of his extensive and well documented research, then I don't think we'll ever know.