Several possibilities as how this may have occurred. I think it's one of those things where if you were not there to physically watch it happen, everything is just conjecture. But since the coin is not bent or scraped, and the details that are on there which show up are pretty clear, I do not believe this was done intentionally in any way either with chemicals or a tool. Date is on both sides. Weighs in at .17 grams instead of 2.5 for a copper-plated zinc planchet. I imagine like most people, I find the errors and die varieties on "Zincolns" far more interesting than standard collecting of them. ~Joe Cronin
Very interesting error, Joe. Such light weight piece. Feels like split after struck due to impurities, imho. And there looks like a double struck as well. Wonder what the label says.
The obverse side de-laminated and stuck to the die, the remainder of the coin was ejected, the de-laminated piece was re-struck and ejected. You need to try and find the remainder of the original coin that has the reverse image! Also, from the 2nd strike, there must be a one-sided cent out there with no or very little obverse image and a reverse image. 3 errors in 2 strikes!
Exactly how did it become a fragment? More than one way. Was it defective before strike? Part of a die cap? Both?
I wonder how well Zincolns, especially ones like this with exposed zinc, will keep in a TPG holder? I'd feel a great need to keep this one sealed in a box with desiccant, at least, and maybe with oxygen scavengers as well. Otherwise, I'd be afraid in ten or twenty years it would look like just another parking-lot find...
My guess is that as the cap got thin and the metal work hardened, the excess was knocked off, leaving the thin shell. The copper was retained against the die, while the other side had the copper worn away as it expanded. Not sure if it's right, but sounds good to me
The other fragment will be the majority of the coin and might look (normal?), or like a normal damaged zinc coin and end up in a scrap pile some where.
