questions on unplated cents, and a 1940 steel wheat cent

My friend, has these coins. I was telling him I never seen them. What are they worth? 1940-P

 

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reverse of the 1978--

 

A lot of plated cents were used as charms or on key chains. As to the exact reason the one's you've posted were plated is anyone's guess.

 

I thought they where plated zinc. What about the 1940?

 

they didn't start using copper plated zinc until 1982. all others before that are copper. if they appear silver, they were plated after production and aren't worth anything. as far as the 1940 "steel" cent, is it magnetic? steel cents were made only in 1943, and i'm not sure, but i don't think any steel planchets were laying around in 1940 to get struck. my guess is it's plated post mint too.

 

Mercury treated, yeah back in the day we were trying to kill ourselves.

 

The 1940 cent may not be steel

If the 1940 cent is magnetic, I do not believe it is steel but something else. If interested, I will elaborate.

 

They're worth about a cent each. All have post-Mint damage.
Lance.

 

It couldn't possibly be a real steel cent since there were no steel planchets around in 1940. Even if the 1940 is magnetic, it would only mean it was coated with nickel which is magnetic.

I agree with others, all of them appear to be PMD.

 

Always possibility it was struck on some sort of foreign planchet for those have numerous dates.

 

Magnetic 1941 wheat cent

While nickel is magnetic, a bronze or brass cent coated in nickel would not stick to a magnet - as evidenced by numerous coins composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel that will not stick to a magnetic.

At this time, until a specimen is tested, I believe it to be a foreign planchet composed of 100% nickel.

In 1940, the Mint (San Francisco) struck 100% nickel 10 Centavo coins for France.

To cut to the chase, I think some of these 1940 Indo-China 10 Centavo planchets were used at the Philadelphia Mint to strike cents.

In 1941, France changed the composition to 75% copper and 25% nickel. Hence, the 1940 10 Centavo is magnetic and the 1941 is not.

Any thoughts?

P.S. My title uses 1941 because I have a similar (magnetic) cent of that date.

 

Very open minded.

"[W]hen you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four (Doubleday p. 111).

 

I suppose its possible, but I have also seen coins coated with nickel that were magnetic. Some of the third party people who coated coins for HSN and the like coated with nickel, and those nickel plated coins ARE magnetic, regardless of the underlying metal. Pure nickel coating is very much different than a 25% nickel alloy.

Either way, a SG test would need to be done to confirm or reject the hypothesis.

 

Read: Occam's razor.

There is nothing that makes me question it is anything but what it appears to be... a damaged and trashed coin.

 

Planchet error or PSD?

That is some great information that I had not considered. I thought if 25% nickel will not stick to a magnet, how could a coating? However, after a minute of thought, it is very plausible (the 25% being diluted while the coating is pure). Assuming the coating is 100% pure (or sufficiently pure) of a highly magnetic substance, it could be a very simple case of PMD.

Thank you again for the additional insight. However, until it is proven these are not Mint errors, I am going to continue searching for, and saving, magnetic 1940-41 cents.

 

You very well could be right about these sir. My only experience is with modern nickel plating, not these cents in particular. That is all I am relating, but if you have better specific information concerning these cents I would defer to your knowledge.

 

I am just an amateur that decided to get a little more serious a few months ago. As I have researched, one thing leads to another (sometimes a dead end). At this time, having looked at the number of your posts and viewed a few for substance, you are the one with numismatic knowledge (and open to possibility until proven false). Therefore, I will defer to you.

 

I agree, the theory you propose is a useful starting point at times. Respectfully, I think I presented sufficient evidence to shift the burden to those espousing PMD.

 

Cute, but that's not the way it works.

Submit them to a respected grading company and have them decide. Tuition is priceless.
Lance.