I bought a 1919-S penny with a weight of 1.2 grams. I suspect it is struck on a costa Rica 2 centavos (nominal 1.0 grams) blank. Costa Rica coins were minted in San Francisco during the early teens. Can anyone confirm this. Please make comment on the specifics of an error or, any other points you may make.
No. My scanner is poor quality. Wouldn't help to have a picture. Looks like any other early Lincoln penny graded very good. The weight is what is so compelling. Very thin thickness.
Did some checking, can't be on a Costa Rican 2 centavos, the US Mint never struck any copper coins for Costa Rica, They struck silver, gold and coppernickel, and they didn't strike anything for them between 1916 and 1921. I wnent further and checked all the countries that we struck copper coins for in 18,19, and 1920. There were only five countries and the lightest weight coin was the 1 centavo of Nicaragua in 1919 and 1920 at 4 grams. Everything else was ether 5 or 10 grams. So it is either a seriously rolled thin planchet or an acid soaked coin. Are all the details visible? All the lettering?
Well, the coin is in VG condition and the details are as sharp as may be expected for a VG coin. There is no overall "dull" that acid would leave and the surface is smooth like wear would cause. The next possible would be Columbia centavo at 2 gr. Seems far fetched.
If a cent was struck on a planchet that thin the details would not be "normal" for a VG coin. The Columbia 1 centavo was struck in 1917 and 1921 and while it was 2 grams it was also made of coppernickel and would be the same color as our nickel five cent piece.
Go ahead, tell more. What would they look like? As I see it right now its features are akin to any other coin I have (Lincoln copper cent) for that time period. There are no cracks or other defects to the metal. The rim is solid and the diameter is smaller, by maybe 1/2 a mm, than a current penny. If I had a better scanner I'd put a scan up, but I don't. Apparently the use of term "normal" caused you confusion. Look at any depiction of a penny at VG condition and that's what the coin looks like. If there is any other trouble with the term "normal" then easily replace that term with VG; problem solved.
I think what Conder is saying is if it were struck on a planchet that was half the weight, the details would be lacking, as the machine is set up for coins that weigh 3.11 grams. So, if the planchet was under half the thickness as normal, the strike would be very weak. As a side note, acid works on a copper coin at a constant. So, everything would be eaten away evenly. Is the coin "bumpy"?
No, it is normal in every respect I can describe save the thickness is aprox 1/2 to 1/3 of a normal penny and the diameter is slightly less. No bumps or etchings (I think we've all seen those darn nickles with "recovered or restored" dates). I didn't expect this much confusion over a thin penny. Perhaps it's best to submit it to an authenticating service and not deal with this drama.
Have at it sir. I wasn't trying to create any "drama", just trying to help. Please, don't forget to post the results.
I see no way the coin can look normal if it was struck on a planchet that was only 38.6% of the normal weight. The quarter linked below is over 86% of the normal weight and it has lost detail. http://www.error-ref.com/rolled-thin-planchets/
Exactly. If the planchet had been that thin when the cent was struck I would not expect it to look like a VG coin. I would expect lincoln to be mostly present but lacking in detail, IGWT to be gone, LIB and the last 19 to be gone or almost gone. On the reverse almost all of ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA would be missing or very weak. The wheat ears would be there but lacking in detail andmost likely E PLURIBUS UNUM would be gone. The diameter would be right but little or no rim present.
