At first I thought it was plated...

Learning, zincoln.

 

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Again the lines are what threw me. I also noticed all the details are still finely pronounced. ESP the vdb on Lincoln’s jacket.

 

Could have sat in the zinc bath a little too long I guess but I was hoping for a manganese composition

 

Coin blanks are plated before they are struck into a coin. Your coin has that is referred to as linear plating blisters. A very common attribute of copper plated zinc cents. Coins lose their cartwheel luster from being in circulation mostly.

 

Zincolns should be excluded from standard knowledge of cartwheel luster. Matter of fact due to their design, they just need to be excluded from everything.

 

Right on I’ll keep searching.

 

it can be linear plating blisters of course, or it could be roller lines (planchet striations) in the planchet, before the plating process, or a bit of both in all actuality. Linear plating blisters generally will give when depressed with a toothpick, roller lines won't depress at all. both look very similar on a zincoln in pictures because of the plating. and from a picture, you can't really tell which is which... not that it makes much difference because coins with roller lines aren't desirable, just like coins with linear plating blisters aren't desirable either. Both considered planchet manufacturing defects either way. These pictures aren't that good, the plastic of the 2x2 is throwing glare, and lighting is bad. but either way it turns out, it would be a lesser specimen due to these lines regardless of how they got there. at least some being roller lines is likely they are in the same directions from obverse to reverse which is pretty normal for roller lines since the same sheet roller is doing both sides at the same tim of the zinc to get it to the proper thickness.

I know it's a zincoln, and they have lots of plating issues, but not every single blemish is a plating blister always. there are other causes in planchet manufacturing.

 

@James R

Skid marks (roll slip)
Polished or burnished streaks across the stock surface resulting from improperly set roller driven material processing equipment. Skid marks are transverse to the direction of rolling.

I got the the above from a metal wholesalers web site. I’ve seen this type of surface anomaly in steel sheets and strapping many times over the years and I’ll bet the zinc sheet coils suffer from the same affliction. When platted with copper later it shows this kind of surface in planchet then coin after striking. Aka roller marks. Just my thoughts.

Reed

 

A clear case of plating blisters.

 

And yes, it is plated. It's a zinc coin with a very thin layer of copper over the zinc.

 

Hey @Fred Weinberg I know it’s a crappy zinc Lincoln but what do you make of this surface? After looking again and thinking it might be both linear plating blisters by his chin and roller marks for the rest of the coin. What says you?

Thanks,
Reed.

 

I wiegh all my coins when I'm searching. I actually found a 90s lincoln cent that wieghs 3.1 grams and a 1982 bu small date copper I've yet to have graded.
Good Luck with your search.

 

Roller marks and linear plating blister are related. It is the roller marks that provide the nucleus sites for the linear plating blisters to form.

 

Great point!

Reed

 

Sure would like to see that heavy Zincoln

 

If you have a 90's cent that weighs 3.1, then it could be copper.
Which would be a rare find. Not impossible, but unlikely.
You'll have to make sure the scale is accurate and calibrated correctly
(by weighing copper coins at 3.1 and zinc coins at 2.5 and then your coin again at 3.1). You must also determine that your coin has not been altered in any way. It's possible the date took a hit and looks like a 90's coin when it is an earlier copper coin (from the 70's or whatever). Also that weight hasn't been added in any way.
It could still be zinc which would be a thicker rolled planchet.
Clear decent sized photos of both sides are mandatory to try to get some visual evidence.

 

Let us know the results ASAP!

 

Please check your scale.

 

will do on a different thread. I use an AWS scale which I also use for measuring gunpowder. It may take a few days, i'm experiencing some serious health issues that are not psychological and I realize the extreme rarity of the find.