1980-P Lincoln Cent Orange Peel Effect

This is the second cent I have come across with this "orange peel" effect.

I would think if it were environmental damage it would not affect the coin uniformly but would have affected parts of the coin.

Thoughts?

 

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It looks more like it was dipped in acid.

Chris

 

Citric Acid? (orange peel)

 

Orange Peel effect is a term used in Copper Plated Zinc Cents that are post 1982 mintage.
I say Environmental Damage.

*Edit - I am correcting myself
Also found on other coins -
http://www.error-ref.com/orange-peel-texture/

 

It could also be a bar customer who has OD'ed on too many Mai Tai's.

 

I wan't aware there was such a term in coins, I used that term from my youth spent in a body shop painting cars. Cool, learned another new term in coins.

 

Your coin was acid dipped.

As seen in Paddyman98's link, Orange Peel is a term to describe they effect seen on coins minted from heavily deteriorated dies. I found a lot of nickels in the early 80's with this effect and I remember hearing them called Orange Peel a few years later.

 

I have a similarly affected cent.

 

It's copper and to me, it looks acid dipped. It's not a mint error, that's for sure.

 

Just wondering what kind of deterioration could cause this effect, maybe a ton of Grease?

 

Certainly not Die Deterioration. To me it looks like the coin was treated with an acid. Some acids are strong enough to eat the coin away to nothing. Some acids are mild. This coin looks like a coin that was dipped or treated with acid. It's been damaged.

 

Are you referring mine or dudes? I would think acid bath would affect the edges of the legends, In other words wouldn't acid attack the details and sharp edges?

 

Looks burnished with a wire brush, or similar.

 

A wire brush? It looks like it was bead blasted??? There are no striations.

 

I was interested in what a burnished coin might look like so I tried it. I used a high-speed rotary tool with a fine brass bristle brush and I am surprised with the result. I see what you are saying but I was unable to reproduce the stippled effect.

 

My thots:
I've always used the term "orange peel" surface as regards US cents minted post 1982. As you know in 1983, cents became zinc cores coated with a very thin layer of copper. I used to have a list of the suppliers of rolls (sheets) of this planchet material sold to the US mints. In the early days (1982-1985) it presented quite a challenge to produce the layered sheets, the thin copper layer often would separate in various fashions. One such problem was this slight "bubbling" or orange peel effect. It normally showed up after minting. Who knows during the annealing or washing/drying/ tumbling. As time passed the problem was mostly eliminated. However, there can be found some examples from cents minted in the post 1980's and even into the 90's. This is basically what I recall. Perhaps this is the cause, but the image in the OP appears to be more than this coating type error, probably as stated PED. (post enviromental damage). I posted a nice image of a 1982 zin cent, it shows minor orange peel, I will add it below: as you can see this slight orange peel effect can be attractive, or gross. Below it is quite attractive. adds texture! Click to zoom, apparent in front of Lincoln's portrait.


Gary in Washington

 

FYI
Orange peel is due to die wear. Most of the copper plated zinc cents you describe are plating issues. These are 2 different mechanisms

http://www.error-ref.com/orange-peel-texture/

 

There is obvious die deterioration on the cent (east obverse) and I assumed the orange peel was related. The Peel texture is confined to inner circumference of both sides. Instinctively I tend to think that exposure would be more random around the surfaces. ??

 

A close up ... It appears, to me, that the peaks of the pattern are raised in relation to the devices.

 

I would disagree, there are no radial lines. The die overall looks sharp and consistent. The texture is not via the die, but the copper plating losing its grip on the inner zinc core. My example is very mild, severe orange peel is where the plating has many "bubbles", again not from the die itself. I suspect that the "bubbles" or texture occurs AFTER the striking of the hammer. This is my opinion, I claim it.
Gary in Washington