What causes some coins to get this beautiful rainbow color? In person this coin in beautiful, but with the light from the scanner you can barely see it.
Somebody just goofing around and put a flame to it. Wether a soldering torch or just a stove flame - can't get it to hot or the zinc will melt and distort the penny.
No - old Wheaties are not a copper plated zinc planchet - older toned wheats are probably real although I have rarely found on in natural toning if circulated.
Here is a scan of my 1919 Wheat Cent it is beautiful with a lot of Blue rain-bowing on the back (which is showing as black) and slight blue rainbow on the front. Does the color (blue, pink, red etc) have any meaning to this? Or did someone use a marker of sorts on this coin? Just don't know what's what. I save the coins and set aside the ones that are unique and now through the knowledge base of this website have discovered they are unique but only because of damage to them before they came to me.