Founds this 1941 cent, it is yellow in color, i read that unplated cents are silver ( which i found 1966 of ) but this one is yellow ish. it stands out very much when it is put next to others, tho on camera its kinda hard to get that shot, but i tried my best. what do you guys think?
Lincoln cents were 95% copper prior to 1982. Sometime during 1982 they were switched to zinc with a copper plating. Therefore coins prior to 1982 have no plating.
No cent dated before 1982 can be "unplated". Some 1982s and all minted before are made of a solid alloy of 95% copper & 5% tin and zinc. The 1966 you found was created post minting. I have found a couple of the silver ones and a couple of the golden ones too. They were plated/colored somehow after minting.
The "brass" cent from 1941 is a well known variety. They are heavier than normal (about 52 grains). Alan Herbert attributed these coins to Peruvian stock used by the US Mint to strike coins for that country in 1941. Mike Diamond wrote a comprehensive article for Coin World questioning this analysis and providing compelling evidence. The article is at: http://www.coinworld.com/articles/heavy-brassy-1941-cents-probably-have-a-prosa Weighing your coin would be the best starting point.
The article using XRF analysis indicated that the brassy cent from 1941 was 88% copper compared to the normal 95% copper. And as one commentator mentioned since copper is more dense ( 8.96) than zinc (7.14), the brass cent should weigh less for the same size coin. Since the ones in the article weighed 3.37 grams rather than less of the optimal weight of the 95% copper cent ( 3.11), the brassy cent would have to be at least 10% -15% thicker. SO if the OP doesn't have an available scale weighing in the x.01 gram range, comparing the height of the coins he shows in the photo should be indicative
