Hello all. I've come across an odd one here. I come across these from time to time and the past few I never really looked into. I have a 1917 that has the same issue, but this one I'm posting about (with a pic) is a 1957 wheat penny with unusual peeling, bubbling and total loss of a "layer" (im assuming the zinc layer) on only the back of the coin. Can anyone tell me if this is some sort of bad chemical reaction from intentional damage, rare type of wear or wear that has been getting worse due to a flaw during the striking process? Appreciate it! Image below. http://i41.tinypic.com/1z4bv3b.jpg
Our coins were not zinc until 1982 . before that they were copper. your coin may have something dried up on the reverse side of it, or maybe it was nickel plated a long time ago.
Pre-1982 Lincoln Cents do not have layers. They are a uniform 95% copper/ 5% tin & zinc throughout (except for 1943 when they were zinc-coated steel).
The coin could have had many things happen, but it does look like a coin that was laquered for preservation and then someone tried to chemically remove the laquer. Jim
I have one that's red almost Auburn color that's pealing like the one in your pic. It's like when you paint a wall over and over. The only issue is my dad who is now 92 yrs old put it in his album over 40 years ago and it hasn't been around anything but inside that cardboard like album along with other wheat pennies. 3 of them have turned that same red the rest are brown and all the pennies look coated not shiny copper.
Looks like someone varnished it. Probably was used to decorate some type of furniture. After gluing a bunch of coins to the surface of the furniture, they slapped a coat of varnish on it for a finishing touch. That's what it looks like to me anyways.
