Has anyone seen a gold colored penny like this before? Or does anyone know what material it must have been struck with? It is a consistant yellow/gold color all over and does not appear to have been altered to obtain such a color. I placed a 2002 penny next to it in the picture to compare.
Welcome to the forum. Check the weight. If the '79 weighs in at a standard 3.11g (compared to 2.5g for the '02), it is almost certainly gold plated, or discolored from contact with some type of chemical. A light gold plating would add no noticeable weight, and could result from a high school kid fooling around in chem lab, or one of the many souvenir-production activities that have occurred over the years - some commercial and some "for fun". Also, copper is capable of turning virtually any color in the rainbow when affected by various chemical compounds, in liquid or vapor form. From the even appearance of the coloring, my guess is plating.
It is possible that the color has changed since it was minted. This happened to me once a long time ago. I was standing by a wood stove hot enough to be glowing. I reached into my pocket and found a tarnished penny. I placed it onto the stove for no special reason and left it. a few minutes later the coin was a pretty gold color exactly like yours. I believe it was also a 1979 penny. Hey! thats my penny! I will let You keep it though. I tried to repeat the process again with not much success, some coins turned different colors. Digger
Thank you. I can't offer a picture at this time, because it, along with another similar have been mis-placed! Once they are re-located, I'll check in, (with photos), and we can take it from there. Please indulge.
I understand your explanation, altho I didn't take Chemistry in school, life has a way of making one a bit smarter, in spite of themselves! I am 80 years old, hence the "name", livingdinasaur! I believe there is another possible explanation: Brass planchets, and a weak strike.
On the reply screen, go to Manage Attachments. Click Browse. When you find the picture on your computer, click on the picture and click Open. Click on Add File. You can keep doing this until all of your pictures are there. When you are finished, click All Done.
THE "bird" is on the way. Thank you for your assistance. it is greatly appreciated. one day, I'll learn to run the front end of the computer, too!
After seeing it, I definitely feel this is the result of some kind of chemical reaction. As I recall, Sylvester has a lot of knowledge in this area, so hopefully he will stop by.
Thank you very much. It is a shame, too, because there appears to be a nice error present, looks like a bird perched on the bottom tip of the "C" in cent. I have to agree witrh the majority. I weighed the coin, and it was 2.94g. Therefor the chances are good that it "has been to school"!
If that were a 1982 or later copper plated zinc coin, I'd say there was just enough of a break in the plating to allow ordinary zinc corrosion to occur and "bubble" the surface, but since it's a '74, then it's .950 copper with just a trace of zinc, that can't be the explanation. It does look like chemical damage of some kind.
First, welcome to the neighborhood! Did you happen to notice that this thread is more than 12 years old? You might be better off starting a new thread. Be sure to include photos. Chris
No I did not notice. Sorry but thank you for the heads up. And thank for the welcoming to this forum coin talk
Ok Hi everyone. Im new this awesome site. I have been collecting pennys for years since I was 12 years old. Didnt know anything about coins but pick up coins that people toss out and put it in a 5 gallon jug. Over the years I have turn in 4 of the 5 gallon jugs full of pennys, into the bank. I've always say, see a penny and I'm a penny more richer. Ok straight to the subject. I was at a park getting out of the car. I noticed something shinny. I thought it was gold. Ha fool me. But anyways this pretty penny has a different color tone than other pennys. Can someone pretty please tell me or what kind of penny this is. Here are some pictures