Oh my....This is what happens when you put a coin in a container of apple cider vinegar and salt.....And then you forget it's in there...Yes....You forget for a couple of days... Oh my....It just dawned on me.....Isn't it a Federal crime to damage American coins?!
Apple cider vinegar is made for collard greens... Not cents!! And now that you posted the feds are all over ya!
To be fair, only a Zincoln (among US coinage) will go that far in so short a time. But vinegar (acid) plus salt (chloride) is a metal-eater; don't ever put a coin in it unless you're doing a science experiment, and if you do that, please, please use a coin that's already worthless. (For example, Zincolns. Lots and lots of them.)
My turn! I Put 1 tablespoon in 1/2 cup of white vinegar(no apple cidar vin. at my house) with 5 zinc cents. Lets see what happens
Cut or file one of the cents enough to expose the zinc, and you should see actual bubbles of hydrogen forming.
Zinc is great, in the right applications. Wrapping it in copper to make circulating coins is the wrong application. Unless, of course, you're a zinc manufacturer looking to lock in a revenue stream.