I have a 1972S penny made of the following metals: Nibium, Iron, Cobalt, Copper, and Nickel. I am wondering what it might be worth.
Leesalu28, Welcome to CT! As far as your penny, and I hope I am not going to end up with egg on my face for asking, but how do you know the composition? Also do you have a picture of the penny? Regards, Stan
My brother-in-law is a chemist and used a spectrometer at his work to get the composition. Currently I do not have a photo but could get one.
Leesalu28 WELCOME to the forum. I can tell you for sure that your coin is worth at the least one cent. What does the spectrometer say any other cent is made of?
I've been a lurker for many months, and this thread has caused me to post! I'd also love to know the percentages. I'm assuming the person means Niobium (Nb)? Surely a trace amount, or it would be a heavier coin. Nb is higher in density than Cu though it is used in many alloys- especially superconductors.
I was thinking Niobium too. Where's the zinc? There should be 5% zinc. There are trace elements in all coinage. If you read the book "Coin Chemistry" by Weimar White, he goes into the trace metals found in Carson City seated coins, and uses the information to determine where the metal came from, among other things.
It should show signs of being strongly magnetic unless the % are micro levels. What was different enough about the cent to lead that specific one to be tested? What type of machine was it? Thanks and welcome to the forum. Many here have scientific backgrounds and welcome the printouts. Jim
Hey there, welcome to CT... I'm new here too. From what I've gathered, (from what I've learned here on this forum), pennies minted in 1981 and earlier were made with 95% copper and 5% zink. I could be wrong...like I said, I'm new here too.:mouth:
