What is it called when the face of the coin (penny) bubbles in places like this one?

Is there a name for a phenominum like this when the coin sort of bubbles in places? I look at a lot of pennies and run across it once in awhile. Sorry the photo is from a little usb microscope.

Thank you, Juan

 

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You're pic looks like a painting!

I'm guessing you're asking about gas bubbles. Common on post 1982 cents.

As explained by coppercoins:

"...a common result of a problematic plating process used at least until 1988 by the US Mint. It involves a mix of improperly washed planchets, contaminated plating material, and plating at the wrong temperatures. Your coin has gas bubbles trapped underneath the copper plating that welled upward when the coin was struck. There are tons of these in circulation, and in fact are difficult to avoid completely in some issues, especially in D mint coins from 1983-1986. They seem nearly impossible to find without this effect to some minor degree."

 

thanks

Thank you for the info, I had no idea what was going on here except that I have seen a lot of them as I separate pre-82's from the rest for copper value. Sometimes I wonder why I do that because it is illegal to melt the coins for their copper?

Juan

 

Yes I found some of this. And brought it to a coin dealer and they said it was a lamination error.

 

Is that just another name for plating blisters, or is it a different type of damage?

 

No plating bubbles and a lamination error are not the same thing. A plating bubble is caused by gas that gets trapped between the core and the plating when it is applied. A lamination is caused by gas bubbles or foreign matter trapped inside the metal ingot when it is poured. When the ingot is rolled out the bubbles are "stretched out" creating voids and layering inside the strip. If these voids break through to the surface you get a lamination error and in some case the layers of metal will actually flake away. If they break through at the side of the coin you can have a clamshell split planchet, or part of the coin may break away. In some case the coin may split completely in two.

 

Thanks for explaining the difference Condor! I actually think that made sense to me lol...think you could explain my mother-in-law for me : devil: ?

 

Bubbles on Lincolns 2006D penny...?

Hi!

Okay, how about this penny. Sorry for it being sideways. There are these little bubble like.....bubbles in front of Lincolns face.

Is this the same scenerio with what was mentined before my post?? If not, then what is going on? Can you maybe explain this one to me?


I'm brand new on this site as of ten minutes ago!! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to ask my question. =)


Best,
Mike

 

Sure, you married her precious baby girl so by definition you can't be good enough for her because no one could be good enough. You also replaced her as the Number 1 person in her life, therefor you must be evil.

I hope that helps.

 

You nailed that on the head...

 

I put a scad of those bubbled pieces of crap away in 1983-84. In 2004 the blisters had corroded through and turned into black spots on ALL BUT ONE. Moreover, if they are in the air in your safe- be careful the corrosion does not travel through the air to other coins. Throw these OUT to protect the other clean coins.

 

What about when there is bubbling all over the penny???

 

The 1963-D looks like it had an acid bath and that ate part of the coin away.

 

Just a thought Conder 1 ... when doing some work for Mike Diamond in a CW error article I was thinking about wartime Jefferson nickels and why they have such a high rate of lamination errors. In my opinion it could be an UNSTABLE ALLOY and these nickels from memory having magnesium in the alloy. I am convinced impropr alloy mixes such as these emergency alloy types put to use during WWIIcoupled withe fact that theiri long term stability to the environment could not be properly studied for obvious reasons. My point - not all laminations are caused by contamination. An intensive SEM/EDS study would prove IMO that Mg is the culprit. Just a thought ...

John Lorenzo
Numismatist
United States

 

Very common from 1982 through 1990.











Even proofs were affected

 

I have a 2010 penny that I have had for several years and it is covered on both sides with hundreds of tiny bubbles. It looks like Lincoln and the shield were both in a sand storm before they were plated. I have seen several 2010 pennies but this is the first 2010 penny I have seen like this.

 

BTW my new book on Counterfeits is now on sale at Amazon Books. Forgotten Coins of the North American Colonies - John Lorenzo, Numismatist, United States.

 

Manganese not Magnesium, but yes the alloy is the problem here, mangnese did not mix well with the other metals probably because it had a much higher melting point and a much greater density difference. It would be difficult to get a good mix in the melt and to keep it from separating during the pouring and cooling. The alloy in effect created its own internal structural defects than manifested themselves during the rolling of the ingots.

And thanks for the notice about the book.

 

I have observed that copper pennies that have been immersed in fresh water for a long time, whether clean or mucked up, seem to corrode in a wavy, uneven pattern. That's what immediately came to mind when I saw your pic. Your penny even seems to show some sort of petrified fresh water muck on its obverse.