Yes, this is a genuine mint error. The coin is on the dark side but it is zinc without a copper plating. This is what an AU-58 looks like.
It zinc and that's not appealing even with a copper coating. It's missing the copper and that's a mint error. I'll take it!
How much does one of those sell for in todays market? If you was to sell it would it even cover the cost to have it graded
Some are as low as $30.00 but don't be fooled by that. Others go in excess of $200.00. As always, condition plays a large part but then how many are known does as well. This one is from the first year of Zinc Cents and 1982 was a transitional year so there are not a lot of them to be had.
I can't believe that NGC slabbed that. I would call it a cent with the plating removed (chemically stripped) post strike. The dark color, rough surfaces, and no mint luster says not a non-plated planchet. Once the luster is gone there is no way to be sure if it was originally there or not, especially if the surfaces are rough.
I would NOT be a buyer of this. Also personally I can't fathom NGC being that hard up for cash to slab a crusty clearly environmentally damaged coin as a straight grade. Must be someone they know that submitted it. If I sent something like that in they'd take my money and detail's me. If it's yours, congrats. If I found that roll hunting it would have been immediately pitched in the trash out of fear I might catch ebola from it.
Doesn't look genuine to me either. My general rules is: If it's dark/dull and grey, it's been de-plated If it's bright and shiny, it's been re-plated. A genuine Unplated Struck Cent would have luster, and as Conder101 said, once it's been circulated, it's almost impossible to verify. So, if it's not DDG or B&S, it has to have original luster on the zinc surfaces to be considered genuine, imo.
Well I have one just like that so maybe I should test NGC and send it in to see what they do with it. Although mine isn't as worn you can still see all the lines of Lincoln's beard, designs all clear. How much does NGC charge? Any bets on what they will say about it. I think they'll send it back as damaged but who knows maybe they'll let the rookie inspect it like the other one in the post
Good rule of thumb is between $30 and $50. Single coin about $50, sending in multiple coins allows you to spread the handling and shipping fees among the coins which drops the cost down. Say you had a single coin that you slabbed at the lowest tier $16 for slabbing $10 handling fee, about $23 return shipping that's $49 plus whatever it cost you to ship to them. Now say you had 5 coins all on the same invoice and grading tier, $80 for grading $10 handling fee $23 return shipping is $113 or $22.60 per coin (return shipping may be slightly higher) and whatever it cost to ship to them is also split between the five coins.
