It seemed heavier so I weighed it. Comes in at 3.396 or so after settling. I know the mint was experimenting with different alloys prior to the release of 1943 steel pennies. I know the idea was to conserve copper. If it is all copper would this be rare? Or just a spender? Opinions welcome.
Welcome to CT!!! The only thing I can think of is did you calibrate your scale? How much does a US Nickel weigh on it?
I agree with you on this but any heavier and I would start wondering myself. I found this interesting when I was researching coin tolerances though. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5113
The chances that it is just a slightly overweight planchet are orders of magnitude greater than it being an unknown experimental planchet (and even if it was you would have to explain what the composition was, they were trying to REDUCE the use of copper so you would need to show that this coin was of a different composition. Especially since it is not visually different.)
Okay cool, maybe I can take it to one of those places that has a ray gun. Thank you for your thoughtful replies, I appreciate your time. (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1942-wheat-penny-weighs-3-4-grams.348964/)
There is a book on Pattern and Experimental Cents of WWII by Roger Burdette. This is where you need to do the research. That being said, I'm a big fan of the 14th century philosopher William of Ockham. He once said, "the simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation". Assuming your scale is calibrated , You have a cent that was struck on a slightly overweight planchet.
