I’m sort of baffled by this coin, my wife just found it. It’s a 1996 D penny however the copper plating is removed in the center of the coin on both sides. It’s very clean and leaves a ring of copper around the outside and it’s very pleasing to look at. I’ve never seen anything like this and am baffled on how it happened. Is this an error coin? Or was it altered somehow? It’s taken off so cleanly without any damage so it leads me to believe it’s an error from the mint but I have no idea. Thanks
The copper coating on these is micro thin and I tend to lean toward the easier more obvious answers. That cent looks to me like somebody took steel wool to it.
Your coin looks like it could be a legitimate error coin. Any type of abrading would damage the design details and leave copper in the small nooks and crannies of the design. Acid would not leave plating at the top of Abe's hair and remove it at the edge of the design that is the top of his head. The stretching of the metal during the striking would produce an effect of separating the plating. The details are sharp to the eye, which make it look to be struck without plating. JMO.
By the appearance of the word 'liberty ' where it isn't between the lettering and the surface doesn't seem to be damage , I would also think it was a plating problem. Jim
