Most likely zinc palted through this science experiment. Common in middle and high school. Afterwards, kids lose interest and spend it. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CIoBELcCMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metacafe.com%2Fwatch%2F1262456%2Fmake_a_gold_penny%2F&ei=xNjOT6PFLvSA2AXi4pnSDA&usg=AFQjCNHo1iDUr4UNmM1aRzh6Ov47eHT4eA You can also make them "gold" Welcome to the forum! Jim
Hard to say. It looks pretty good. It isn't one of the commonly encountered pieces that have had the copper stripped off. It seems to have good luster like a genuine one would. Go over the coin on both side carefully looking for the plating blisters commonly found on the copper plated Zincolns. A genuine cent struck on a non=plated zinc blank will not have any such blisters. (If there are none that doesn't prove that it is real, but if it DOES have some it DOES prove that it is fake.)
I can see spotting at 3o'clock, and all over from 7-10o'clock where the plating has worn off and the copper is showing through. I bet you can scrape some off with your fingernail... Plated. Edit: closer pics of the rim at those locations would be better, but I'm still inclined to say it's plated.
looks like you may be thinking in reverse gear here. from 1983 up until now our cent coins are not copper. they only have a super thin copper plating on a zinc core that is silver color , so this coin may possibly be one of the unplated ones.
He is thinking someone may have plated a copper plated zinc cent to make it look like a non-plated planchet coin. One thing you have to be careful of on the genuine non-plated cents is copper flakes from copper dust adhering to the die being struck into the zinc planchet.
The only pennies that look like that are 1943 PDS that were zinc coated steel. Copper and brass were needed for the production of war materials during WWII and the Mint experimented with other materials to make up for the loss of copper and brass.