Greeting all, facinating site, some really great reads. I have nothing to do with coins, know nothing about them but my boy found this one today and was wondering what it was. We took it as a homeschool lesson so we took some pics and are asking what is up with this one. The penny is a 1962 (no little letter under the date) and is no where near as thick as a regular penny, there is just barely an edge rim on the bottom portion, the edges do not look like they are worn or if it is it is even all around. The whole thing can fit neatly inside the rim of a regular penny, but like I said it is only about a third the thickness. The back has a weird dimpled surface, and the letters look like they have a shadow of a double strike. One post said that the thinness was probably due to "acid", but I have the same question my kid did, why then did is dissolve so evenly all over, wouldn't it have little pock marks like chicken pox or something? I am posting pics, sorry for the color and focus, and also for not having a scale to give you a weight. I am not looking to make a million, we are just interested in the penny and learning a bit more than we know at the moment (which shouldn't be hard considering the lack of knowledge we have.) Appreciate any feedback. Tim
Looks like it took an acid bath obverse (heads) down. It does evenly eat away at the coin, and the little pot marks are likely because of impurities in the metal.
I guess the back could have been pressed with something like sand and the top worn down as well but what about the eges? and if the little pocks are from sand or acid, why not he raised letters? Me and the boy have been reading through all the posts on here and this stuff is facinating, he thinks it is weird how you guys think this stuff is interesting, but I explained to him that we all have hobbies that others think makes us geeks so to each his own eh?
Now when you guys talk about acid baths, what are you referring to? I mean that seems like a lot of pennies that are just sitting around waiting for some battery acid or tomato juice. Is it that normal liquids are reacting with the copper/zinc to make acid?
Well we find it fascinating because of several reasons, I'm sure that everyone has their own story to tell. For me, I'm a fourth generation collector and I love the beauty and the history of coins. But your coin, the dimples are from small impurities in the metal. Nitric acid, which is likely the cause, would dissolve the different densities of metals at different rates. If you look at the lettering and the edge closely, they too show dimples.
Nitric acid, impurities, and yes I see the pock marks on the letters now, got it. I am getting getting questions from the peanut gallery behind me....What about soda, if they left one in soda would it do the dame thing, and if so how long (your probably going to tell them the same thing I did that they need to do it and see, kinda like "How many licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop.?" And fourth gen collector, wow. That is something. You must do it cause you like it, by the looks of it you don't get rich from this, (rarely maybe), but even so you get a $1 for a penny, it is a 100% return on your investment so you come out way ahead I guess.
More than likely someone had some acid and too much time on their hands so they decided to try an experiment. Who knows, but I agree with Kirk that it probably was acid.
Soda would discolor the coin over time, but it would take forever to look like that coin. I saw the soda thing on Mythbusters.
Well I really appreciate the answers guys, the kids are talking about going through their jars of pennies in the morning (new summer hobby most likely) and seeing if they can find a rare coin to sell so they can buy a new bike (good luck right?) Any how you may have started these guys out on a new hobby. Mission accomplished. Thanks Tim
That's great!!! Tell them to get a copy of the Cherrypickers guide. Many coins of value can be found with a little effort. They could each have a new bike in no time.
