I’m a newbie to the hunt! Found a 1957-D penny the size of a dime. It only weighs 2.650 grams. Doesn’t appear to be filed down by anyone as the edge is same smoothness as the rest of the coin. Since it’s not silver in color, I doubt it was struck on a dime planchet. Am I looking at a damaged coin or is it a true error of some sort? Any help much appreciated!
I think someone cut it. Pmd. Look at the left edge. It's kind of lopsided, and you can see that some of the lettering is cut off.
My father was a teen in the late 50's and early 60's. He told me that there was a time when it was popular for kids back then to modify pennies to work like dimes in various vending machines that took dimes. This is probably related to that era.
Ok thanks! I was wishful thinking it might be something other than that because the edging of the coin looks the same the whole way around. Much appreciated!!!
Great photos Brooke and thank you for posting them FULL SIZE and not thumbnail. As @VistaCruiser69 mentioned, people used to shave down pennies to use in dime machines and it looks like that might be the case here. Age and circulation would have smoothed the edges and removed any trace of it being ground or filed down. Have you laid a dime over it to check the size?
Oh yes- same exact size as a dime so it makes sense! Smart kids...gullible newbie coin collectors and old-timey soda machines
