While going through my grandfathers collection I found this 1979 Lincoln cent. To me it looks like a zinc cent with the copper removed, but I don't think that they made zinc cents in 1979. I think it might be plated in something, but how do I tell without damaging the cent? And then what would you plate it in? It isn't shiny like chrome or silver, it's kind of dull. Tell me what you think...
often pennies fall victim to the high school science teacher. Sometimes they get dipped in acids other times they end up plated! Ziggy
Could have been soaked in mercury to form an amalgam. Could have been plated with zinc, nickel, or chrome. I think they only made the aluminum cents in 1974?
A science lab experiment is the likely reason, but there are also plenty of unscrupulous people out there who would do it so they could sell it to somebody as some great rarity. It happens multiple times a day on ebay. And they succeed at it.
just compare weight to normal 1979 on very percise scale to make sure... 99.9999999% change of being plated
