1944 Wheat Penny

I have a 1944 Wheat Penny. I found it about a week ago in my change jar, and the thing that caught my eye was it's size. It was noticably smaller then any other penny and when you put it on top of a dime it is the exact size all the way around and the edge is the same width. The wheat on the back is even partly gone of the edge I thought maybe it was cut or ground down so I checked the edge with a magnifying glass and the edge is perfectly smooth.

Could this penny have been made from a dime blank?

 

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It would be silver colored, not brown. How much does it weigh?

 

I think my scale is wrong because it is showing that it ways 8.9 grams. But when I put a Dime on the scale it show 7.9 grams and another normal wheat penny and the normal penny weighs 10.8 grams. I dont know what a penny and dime are supposed to weigh and I know both of these weights my be wrong but I do know that the penny I have is only 1 gram heavier then a dime and 2.1 grams lighter then another penny

 

a normal wheat should weigh 3.11 grams and a dime should weigh 2.5 grams

 

Your scales are big time out of wack. Is there a coin or jewelery dealer close by that can weigh it for you? A pic would be nice too...

 

There arent any Jewlery stores within 20 miles of me. Im going to go buy a new scale and also im going to upload a photo

 

Without an image, I'm thinking an acid dipped cent. It probably looks like this?

The rim would be missing and thinner than normal. Acid was used at that time in chemistry class to experiment on cents. Why? They would dip the coins to reduce the size so they could put into a pop machine to get a soda for a cent and sometimes get change back passing it off as a dime in the machines back then. I refer to them a "Pop Money".

 

Thanks for the acid dipped photos I can tell you now its not acid dipped I'd like to here as much info as possible on this topic as possible. I am not much ofa collector Im just wondering if maybe I stumble upon something. I have attached 2 Scans of my coin. (front and back) you can tell which is the penny in topic. I cant get are good picture of the edge but it is a smooth edge with no scratches or any indication of being cut.

 

Front Veiw

 

Can we get a pic of the edge of the coin? Judging by the amount of wear on the obverse pic, it may be a file job.

 

I had to use my scanner for those 2 pics because I cant get close enough with my camera without it blurring. Are there any other ways to get a close clear picture?

 

I haven't tried it yet, but some people hold their magnifying glass in front of the camera

 

Im going to try the way with the magnifying glass but this is the best I can do with my scanner I hope this can help. The middle penny is the one in topic. The left is a dime and the right is another Wheat penny.

 

Looks like it was just cut down to me.

 

I believe its post mint too. The edge above In God is not quite round, and the reverse seems to be off-center. The right wheat ear is alot closer to the rim than the left. It could be something else though, but I doubt it. Nice conversation piece...

 

That could be a possibilty. I recently added another post "Misprinted Nickel" someone said it was just a Slight offset punch, do you think that could have been a possibility with this penny?

Another Question: When a blank for a dime is made it is copper. My question is, is the silvery plating added before or after the coins are punched?

 

Dimes are not chrome plated copper. It is a sandwich of cupro-nickel with copper in the middle.

 

I would take it to a dealer, i even dont trust my own scales.

 

Not an expert but if you look at the penny in the middle on the edge toward the bottom it looks to be file marks or something similar to file marks.