Hi I am very new here, but have been collecting, and researching coins on an amateur level for many years. I know that the coin I am inquiring about is it not likely to be real. It is much more likely to be the result of an experiment or for novelty purposes. But I have a 1976D silver Lincoln Memorial penny. It does not have any magnetism whatsoever. It weighs under 3 g(unfortunately my scale only weighs in grams, not fractions of grams, therefore, I just get a value of 2). I did do research and tried to search through the forums and did find a lot of answers about this particular coin, but since mine is pre 1982, weighs less than 3 g, and does not react at all to a magnet, I got curious. Any opinions? Thanks in advance..
Definitely altered (plated) post mint. Metal that is attracted to a magnet is called Ferromagnetic. You really need to get a jewelers scale. They are really cheap and a very important tool in coin collecting. You will never get the correct weight if you use any other type of scale. Pictures are always nice to include in your threads. Welcome to CoinTalk
Welcome to Coin Talk @Nickidawn Full Image photos of your coin(s) in question help members here give better answers to your question. I suspect your coin was a school science experiment. Google changing a penny to gold and silver and you'll see how it is done. I'll post this to hopefully get you started on posting your photos. For the best results, you should post "in focus," FULL IMAGE photos (after you upload your photo, two buttons appear: Thumbnail and Full Image, click Full Image and your photo appears full size on your post and are easily enlarged by clicking on it). Photograph coins on neutral backgrounds like black, grey, or white. Crop out superfluous background so just the coin shows (you can use https://www.remove.bg for free), and post photos with correct orientation so members don't have to turn their computer in some awkward fashion to view it properly. While it isn’t always necessary, it is nice to show both the obverse and reverse, even if your question is just about one side. Members can often give more valuable information having both sides to evaluate. Add close ups of areas you have questions about and make your questions as definitive as possible so we know what you are asking for. And try to have the best lighting possible to show the most favorable photo of the coin. Hope this helps in the future. Good luck.
A question to ask yourself. What do you think it is? There were 40% silver quarters, halves, and dollars that year. But I assume it's not on one of those planchets or you would have mentioned the size. A foreign planchet? Or, the most likely solution: PMD.
Thanks so much. I wanted to post a photo. I just couldn’t figure out exactly how to do it. I thought I made enough mistakes already posting in someone else’s thread and hijacking it I absolutely needed that advice though. Thanks again. and thanks to everyone for their comments, suggestions and answers
I posted that the first time, and it told me an error occurred, so I posted it again. Now it’s there twice. I’m really not quite as inept as I seem. When I was going through threads about this topic, I thought that it said that if the coin were layered or coded in another material that it would weigh more than 3.11 g due to the weight of the coating. Is that incorrect, I guess?
I posted that the first time it told me an error occurred so I did it again and now it’s there twice. I’m really not quite as inept as IWhen seem. When I was reading the other threads about this topic, I understood it to say that if a coin was layered or coded in another material that it would weigh over 3.11 g due to the added weight of the coating i’m obviously doing something really wrong here. That time I’m positive I only clicked post reply once. So sorry for the duplicates.
Wow, very good picture. The problem with a balance that shows only grams is that it can show a 2.5 g (Zincoln - copper clad zinc cent) as 3 g and a 3.11 g cent as 3 g. What you could do is to balance a ruler on a pencil with 2 bronze cents on opposite sides and adjust it till they balance and then replace one of them with your "silver" cent to see if it ballances or is heavier or lighter.
that sounds like it takes a lot more coordination and I have… lol. Thanks very much for your response. I’m going to have to invest in a better scale. I’ve been meaning to for a long time anyway. I guess I just have to get better at spotting errors somehow. Deciphering between post meant damage and meant damage is very difficult for me, or spotting a double die, at least being sure it’s a double die.
Search " silver plating copper at home " and you will find many articles and youtubes that show how t do it. The silver is likely quite thin , so a small scratch or abrasion on the flat rim should answer whether it is or not. IMO, Jim
Nicki, watch this. Notice this is being done in a lab, probably a high school chemistry class, so you probably have the silver version of this experiment.
