1974 s aluminum penny

3.0

 

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im mad cause i half to goto work tomorrow

 

so your telling me someone would plate it but y ?

 

There are numerous reasons why and examples of people having done just that. Searching past threads here, or even a quick visit to google would likely be an enlightening experience for you.

 

http://www.lincolncentresource.com/Rare/1974Aluminumcent.html

 

I think most of us have experienced that.

To learn about chemistry, or to surprise someone who receives it in change.

 

It's an inexpensive way to experiment, by using cents.
I thought I had a steel late 50's wheatie many years ago (since lost/destroyed in a fire). But I learned here it was most likely mercury coated.

 

Some time ago Hramika20, I was sorting through the thousands of Wheat Cents my late Father in-law had left to me....I came across a COPPER 1943 Lincoln Cent not one to give way to excitement I showed to my wife and Bud. We did the magnet test and it stuck....years back high school lads would copper plate coins...and I was lucky enough to find one.....Bud laughed at me....

 

old thread.
I just tell people google "gold plated coins" and places like MerrickMint.com pops up, and many others. Companies (and people) plate cents to resell or experiments or just to have fun. if a company makes money from it, why not. Problem is these things sooner or later are used as money and enter circulation.

 

I saw a plated cent from the seventies that a friend had. He said he'd let it sit for a spell in his much-used silver coin dip. He went on to say that the silver ions therein attached to the cent. I'll have to try this some time. I have some long ago, used dip in a bottle somewhere. Might this have been done with our OP's 1974 cent?

 

1974 Aluminum Cent
No Mint Mark
Found in a bag with a 1853 1 dollar Gold Piece



Cheap 5 dollar scales.
Reference below is Newer zinc penny.


Here's the edges... what do you think?
Old country guy had it. Was thrown out when he died.

 

My immediate impression based solely upon the photos is that of a cheap knockoff.

 

Thanks, I have no real way of checking this.
I did a lot of research though, and know the history, as well as the fact there are knock offs.
I had discarded it in my mind when I got the 2 coins. I was more interested in the gold piece. It was worth about 400+ dollars.Then I decided to look up aluminum penny, and the year and all were right.

This came from a guys house that never had internet and was in his 90's.
Did they sell them on The Shopping Network or anything to your knowledge?

 

Flea markets. There's a big industry of people who do have internet access buying knockoffs from China, then selling them at flea markets to people who don't have access.

Welcome to CoinTalk!

 

The other thing that struck me, was that for a knockoff that someone paid for, it shows wear and tear like a circulated coin. Why would someone take a beat up knockoff, put it in a plastic sleeve and keep it with a 400 dollar coin.

I have no clue how to get it authenticated if it is real, or get a definitive no it's not.
No one here (small , small rural area) has any great knowledge of coins, and if I send it off and it is real, well you know what will happen.

 

That's true, I hadn't thought of that.... we have lots of flea markets.

Guess I'll stick in the safe, and keep it until I can find out for sure.

I can totally see a kid buying it for Pops who liked coins. Thanks folks.

 

The weight is very close. (.093 gram)
Most surviving aluminum examples look better than your photo.
Anything is possible, it is unlikely, and while a genuine aluminum 1974 cent
may be worth up to $2 million dollars, it would be confiscated by the US Treasury Dept. You would have to get it authenticated somehow, and then sold via the underground black market in Europe or Asia.
The odds are slim it's genuine.

 

I am going to weigh it on a jewelers scale.

There is absolutely no way it would be over .937 grams is there?
I mean do coins have a margin of error?

I am not an expert on coins at all, or even an enthusiast. I just collect old stuff here and there. Just my luck (usually bad) that even if it is real, itwould be the only really valuable thing I have, and be totally unable to do anything with it.

I appreciate the input from you folks.

 

There is a "range" for all coins +/-.
The aluminum cent is a special case IDK what the tolerance variance is for that.
It's highly unlikely you have an aluminum cent made by the US Mint, but if you do
you won't be able to do anything with it inside the US. If you are honest you would
have to turn it over to the authorities.

 

Ten years ago my son spent a weekend working for a flea market. Sweeping and emptying garbage. Did all that to buy me a set of three Morgan dollars for Father’s Day from one of the vendors there. The dollars are phony as a three dollar bill. Still to this day I haven’t told him that. Probably never will.... But yes, flea markets are ripe territory for phony coins.