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Message:: [QUOTE="RDB443, post: 3614186, member: 105329"]I'm new to the forum and have digested with interest the posts in this 1958-D thread with regard to plating Lincoln cents, magnetic properties, etc.  Here is my dilemma:  I purchased a collection of coins from a friend who's 82 years old last evening, 18 July 2019.  His mother had been the postmistress in Bowling Green, VA, back in the late 1950s through the 1960s until about 1976.  She had a small tackle box behind the counter in which she kept unusual coins and currency that came through the door.  There were numerous silver dollars, 90% US coinage, currency and foreign coins.  What really caught my eye was a silver-colored Lincoln Wheat Ear cent dated 1958-D that "struck" me as a possible mint error.  I bought the collection for its silver and a couple of surprises; but this coin has me perplexed, and I'd appreciate the thoughts of those who've been at this far longer than l have.... So here are the details, starting with some photos and specifications of weights and measure: [ATTACH=full]968044[/ATTACH] The Obverse is a clearly-struck image and appears to have a proper rim, which is surrounded by another layer of metal that exceeds the coin's specification of 19mm, making it in fact 20.04mm.  The coin's weight also surpasses the expected specification of 3.11 grams, coming in as a lunker at the 3.45 gram mark.  Please note, if it didn't jump out and hurt your eye, the peeling, or delamination of the rim material just above the coin's 9:00 o'clock position.  Also observe the oxidation of this exterior rim around the bottom of the coin.  More on that below....  Now to the Reverse with its crisp wheat ear devices and apparent mint-state reflective surface: [ATTACH=full]968045[/ATTACH] What accounts for that blasted chip at the bottom revealing a bronze-like layer beneath the surface of silver material?  I say silver material because that is what it appears to be.  When comparing the silver surface both on the obverse and reverse of this coin, I pulled out a small, eraser-sized magnet to find that the coin is peculiar in its magnetic properties.  In the very center of the coin, Abe's right cheek and beard area, and the obverse's "EN" area of "CENT" are non-reactive to the magnet.  But if you dare move the magnet outside what would be the "bulls-eye" area of the cent, SNAP! you're on the rim with the magnet.  And I mean NOW. [ATTACH=full]968046[/ATTACH] After reading one of the previous posts, I grabbed a dime, just to see how it and the cent liked each other.  Here's what I got: [ATTACH=full]968047[/ATTACH] Just like the cake in a baking dish.  For further investigation, I juxtaposed another 1958-D to the nested dime for the sake of comparison.  Perfect 19mm diameter with a wear-expected weight of 3.09 grams.  So what do I examine next?  The rim on this thing just ain't right.  [ATTACH=full]968048[/ATTACH] My investigation of the rim tells me that this is some sort of sandwich, and the meat of the sandwich has a reeded edge--just like the Roosevelt and its ancestors do.  The reeded edge is clearly visible in the seam crack of that magnetic-reactive outer rim. [ATTACH=full]968049[/ATTACH]  So I'm hoping mint error, but the posts in this thread all scream "no such thing"..."gotta be a novelty coin" and such.  But my head's thinking: "Why would someone go to the trouble of making a dime sandwich--effectively decimating the coin's face value?  And how on earth did the coin make its way to Bowling Green, Virginia's little, tiny post office, if it was made as a novelty coin.  QUI BONO?  I investigate always with a view to follow the money thinking 'Who benefits'?"  If it were going to be intended, or constructed, as a novelty coin, first, what's the point in getting rid of it?  Second, if you spent all that time figuring out HOW to do it and executed the coin's construction, hoping to exploit the profit potential of a mint error coin, why spend it so someone else gets the reward of your labors?  I understand the science project concepts as well as anyone, but why build this thing around what appears to be a dime?  Again, who benefits?  If I want to show someone how clever I am with printing things, showing off how I can turn a $100 bill into a sawbuck is probably not the direction I'd take. 1958, Denver, Colorado.  US Mint.  New reverse memorial design day zero is coming at you like a freight train and the new dies have arrived with planchets by the carload coming towards you fast from Philly.  My thought is clean this house and be prepared!  Clear out all that old stuff and get ready for a new day.  If it looks silver, like a dime planchet, throw it in that bucket.  Could it be an old steelie from back in the day?  Do we really work, or kick back in the Mint Lounge with a bottle of Wild Turkey and play "bet I can make a _________ out of one of these, one of those, and a couple of those.  We've turned in our numbers, so let's go play with the dies that are going to be replaced next week"?  Or is it a sparetime playday piece to train the new guy?  I can't explain a bit of how this coin got put together or why.  Or why it's been sitting in a tackle box in the bottom of a friend's safe for decades and ended up in my hands almost as long as I've been alive?  Novelty coin, mint error, who knows; but the layers of this coin continue to vex me.  A little background about dies and the minting process might be informative as well if someone could point me in that direction.  Does metal squish out and make a rim like this if there's too much metal in the chamber (is there a chamber?) or the pressure's set too high? I appreciate any assistance that the forum might provide to this new member and hope that I've conducted my inquiry in a proper fashion.  Thanks, Robert[/QUOTE]

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