1989 error penny??

I have a 1989 penny that has a high rim on both front and back. I believe i have heard of these errors before called High rim? The odd thing about it is that the penny is double the thickness than regular pennies. I tried to show in the pictures what I am talking about. One is of a regular sized penny and other is the thick penny. Has anyone every heard of anything like this? I did a search for "thick penny" on google and came up with nothing.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Left in a dryer for an hour or 10.

Left in a dryer for an hour or 10.

 

Welcome to the forum. Can you give us a weight? Thanks

 

Yes, that rim has a lot of miles on it.

 

The measurement is of the field or whatever you call it. Therefore the planchet could be a thick one produced from a strip that was not rolled properly. The weight and diameter would help resolving the identity.

 

thanks for your input. diameter is the same as all other pennies. I am still working on trying to find a gram scale.

 

gas or electric?

 

Hi and WELCOME,

The edge is rounded . The coin is damaged. They are called "dryer coins" as they really do get stuck inside the fins of commercial clothes dryers. If there is only one coin in the fin, the edge gets rounded over as the coin tumbles inside the fin. If there are many coins stuck inside the fin, the edge gets rounded over and the obverse and reverse are damaged.

In this case, only one coin in the fin.


It's not an error and they are found more than you might think
Thanks,
Bill

 

Hi,

Also, it is not a thick planchet as the edge remains sharp and squared.

Thanks,
Bill

 

So a commercial dryer can make a penny double it's width????

 

yep!

This is one that I have on one of my websites. It was mixed with other coins and tumbled around in a laundromat dryer for six months or so.



Your coin was by itself and is in the early stages of being damaged.

Thanks,
Bill

 

Wow thats hard to believe. Are there other ways to determine a dryer coin from a double planchet? Like perhaps weighing? I would assume a double planchet would weigh more than a regular coin. I cant see a dryer adding weigh to a coin soo....

 

Weighing the coin was mentioned above, do you have a weight? Also the diameter.

 

Judging from the photos, it appears to be a genuine error. The coin seems to show a "finned rim". Finning results from abnormally high ram pressure (the tonnage delivered to a normal planchet) or from increased effective striking pressure as the result of a slight bit of die tilt.

If there is rounding to the edge, it is too subtle for me to detect. The key would be to carefully measure the diameter. If the diameter is below that of a normal cent, the coin was rolled and sqeezed in a mechanical device. If the diameter is normal, then it's a case of finning.

 

Look at where he is measuring with the micrometer. He is measuring inside the rim. The whole planchet must have been thicker than it was supposed to be.

 

Hi All,

I played with the images a little more and I am going to change my opinion. After I copied the picture to my computer and tweaked the lighting...you can see that Mike hit the nail right on the head.

The edge is fine and the coin is struck on a thick planchet.

Thanks Mike.

Have Fun,
Bill

 

A finned rim does not mean the coin was struck on a thick planchet. It simply means that the coin was struck under abnormally high ram pressure. This forces coin metal into the thin gap between die neck and collar.

The vast majority of finned coins are of normal weight. The majority of coins struck on thick planchets show no finning.

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the clarification.

I need another cup of coffee I usually think these things out a little better

Have Fun,
Bill

 

I still say it is a thick planchet based on the photos because he is measuring on the fields of the coins and not on the rims. I could be wrong, but based on what he has shown, it looks like a thick planchet AND a finned rim.

 

If it's a thick planchet then the weight will be greater than normal. No other indicator is reliable when diagnosing a thick planchet.