I found this in my change about a month ago. I took about 300 pictures with my digital and these are the best of the bunch. The color is accurate. I believe this is a non plated zinc penny. It is non-magnetic. I have had one professional take a look at it but I do not believe he wanted to do a complete inspection. He suggested that an acid bath could cause this but I tend to disagree. From the research I have done it is very difficult to remove the copper from the zinc as zinc is much more reactive than copper. The one way that I found that could do so involves enough poison to kill a city block of people. As such i doubt it was the latter. It may not be apparent of the obverse but the F G is still present on the coin leading me to believe that some form of abrasion was not used. So the reason I am here is I am wondering is it possible that a coin did not get included in the plating process. If so could said coin make it to the actual minting process.
Howdy Thomas - Welcome to the Forum !! Yes, it could be an unplated coin. But by the look of it I would think it was an acid job as well.
Such errors are difficult to authenticate in the best of circumstances. Once oxidation has set in the job is much tougher. If your coin has microscopic bumps, that's a sign that the plating was chemically stripped off. A dull gray patina is also a warning sign. The only unplated cents that are worth collecting are those that retain original color and original mint luster. From the look of it, I'd say your cent was tampered with.
I still question how you could strip off the copper while leaving the zinc intact. http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2007-07/gray-matterpretty-penny The color or the penny is appropriate for zinc oxide. It has a blueish tint. It is fairly soft also. I am not a coin guy but I do know a good bit about chemistry. So I have no idea what to make of this in coin value or interest. What would be the demand for a coin like this if it is mint-error? Would anyone care?
