I found a 1962 cent that felt differnt in my hand. It is considerable lighter then other cents. When I set it on top of another cent it is smaller in diameter (not much but smaller) The face has a interesting orange peel kind of feel and look. The rim has lines like a dime that have been worn away with time. the thickness is quite a bit thinner as well. When it falls on a table it makes a different sound than a regular cent. All of this makes me think it is on the wrong meta or that the image was pressed onto foreign coin stock. I don't know any of the correct terms for some of the things that I am describing but I hope that this is enough for someone to help me solve this mystery of what happened to this coin. If you would like a picture from a different vantage or if any other information would help let me know and I will try to get it. Thanks for any help that can be given Picture 1 is a general picture of the coin Picture 2 is showing how thick the coin is Picture 3 is showing the texture on the rim Picture 4 is a color and texture comparison of another cent.
my first thought when i saw it was a 1962 - it was made into a size of a dime i heard of stories that some people shaved-ground down a penny to dime size to work in vending machines. of course it wouldnt work today - someone made 9 cents profit if it worked and of course someone lost the 9 cents i guess vending machine back in the 50's & 60's worked on the size of a coin instead of the electric properties of coins today has anyone else heard of this - shaving down pennies to work in vending machines as dimes 40+ years ago - i thought i remember seeing an article on PCGS forum awhile ago Snowman
yup, got one in change a few years ago for 1 cent. it was a 1964. a coin roll hunter i know got one in a dime roll a few weeks ago. :headbang:
Yes, coin mechanisms before the late 70's possibly early 80's were mechanical and judged the coin by diameter and weight and sumetimes ha a probe to make sure the "coin" was not a washer. Checking the electrical properties did not become commonplace until much later.
Everything else can easily be attributed to an acid bath, but that doesn't explain the reeding, which seems to be accurately described.
I also know someone else that got a penny in a dime roll. Odd thing was, one of the more modern coin counters took it back as a dime too.
If the coin is laying flat in the acid, as it eats the metal bubbles of hydrogen are formed that come up from underneath. They tend to rise up along the edge in the same place each time so the edge is etched slightly unevenly and this can create the ribbed look around the edge of the coin. Another possible reason for the ribbing on the edge is that when the blank is punched from the strip there are definite vertical lines created by the shearing action. when the edge of the coin is milled the hardness of the coin will still vary very slightly in the pattern of those shear lines. This varying hardness can also result in a slightly different reate of attack on the metal by the acid.
I'll have to say it looks like an acid job too. Still, I'd say keep it, looks neat. And only costs you 1 cent. Phoenix
