2000 D Lincoln "steel? silver? aluminum?" penny?!?!?

Hey guys,

Thought i would share some interesting news with you guys and get some responses and views of what yall think.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p269/whatley_bucket/Silverpenny.jpg

* this picture is a little off, the color of the penny is way to light and does not have any brown or copper look to it, keep in mind i have a 7 year old scanner. The real color to this penny is Black/Gray almost silver like. Just looking at it seems like a strong charcoal black with details of rubbed unpolished silver... many of you would have already guess it to be a penny that was dipped in acid or some type of solution right? well that's what i thought as well until i asked some local coin collectors in my area and all 4 of them said that it was unknown and was not treated with chemicals. None of them have every seen a penny in this form. The penny is actually noticeably lighter in hand and has a ruff texture on the feel.. it has no dent or scratches that i can see and looks to be in grade A+ shape. If you look closer in the light, you would see lumps of die everywhere and noticeably the reverse die line stretched on the word "AMERICA" and the word "STATES" i believe my have die cracks on the "TATES" right above the letters.. I'm curious to get your opinions on what it may be. Give me feed back on it, ask questions and i'll give you details on it.. hopefully we can figure out what it is.

-Chris

 

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Looks like it either survived a fire or a kid playing around with an acetylene torch. I've put many a zincoln through this torture.

 

I agree - looks like it has either been in a fire or has been heated sufficiently to destroy the copper plating.

Do you own a magmet? If so you could test the coin yourself to see if it was made of steel rather than asking us.

 

Thanks for responding, i dont believe this was acetylene or any type of heat or fire that produced this coin texture and color, I'm not saying your wrong but saying that i too like to experiment with coins and this i would disagree on.. when the coin is placed on a counter it has a very high pitched ring to it when hitting the surface and can automatically notice the difference in sound and size. you can tell buy ear that this is not a regular weight penny.

 

If you alter a coin by heating it or other methods you will also alter its accoustic properties. Have you weighed it, and if so what is the weight? I've seen many Zincolns like this and I've been responsible for causing a few to look like this. This is not a mint error.

 

Same here. Back when I used a kerosene heater I created all sorts of interesting zinc cents by placing them on the top of the unit. Leave them there long enough and the copper plating goes away leaving a coin that looks an awful lot like the one in the OP.

 

Yep, post mint damage.

 

And if you put it on a scale instead of trying to "weigh it by ear" you will find it is the normal weight of 2.5 grams. (to within mint tolerance +/- .1 gram)

The darker gray surfaces and the rough texture of the fields are distinctive giveaways that the copper plating has been removed either by heat or chemical means. If it had actually been struck on a steel, silver or even an unplated zinc planchet the fields would be smooth and lustrous.

 

Here you go. I came across this today searchig a bag of junk/cull coins and several more just like it. Even makes a different sound when dropped. Nothing but damage from heat.

 

i would like to see an unplated memorial. anybody have a photo?

 

Here's one;
http://www.cointalk.com/t43175/

 

Hobo do you actually think that a 2000 dated cent coin could be possibly made out of steel ? a magnet will not stick to any of our modern zinc coins and you folks on here should not tell RollingMints their coin may be a fake or altered coin until tou look at it in hand. there are thousands of unplated coins out there. our cent coins are almost totally zinc with a super thin copper plating on top of the zinc.a lot of the cent coins were made at the mint without the copper coating and like some of you are saying sometimes folks do alter them.

 

thanks. the coins i have are dull.

 

Post mint damage. An unplated cent has luster, this coin does not....at all. Even if started life as an unplated cent, it is worth 1 cent and no more. Sorry.

 

Let me ask you something .... If you are not the one that removed the copper plating from this coin then how can you be so sure that it is not a real mint coin. Something a lot of you folks on here need to know is that this zinc our coins are now made from is nothing but junk. you can take one of these unplated zinc coins and expose it to the elements for a very short time and it will become lumpy and bumpy just like the coin in your photo. then before long the entire coin will be rotted away and completely gone if it is not coated with some type lubricant.anyone that collects these unolated coins will have nothing but trouble with trying to keep them preserved.

 

Because a mint produced, unplated cent has LUSTER....read the thread.

I have a monster collection of Zincolns and, guess what, not a single one of the is corroded. It's no trouble keeping them that way. It's called PROPER STORAGE.

 

darn I did another typo. I was trying to type *unplated*

 

BadThad is it really hard for you to understand that all coins when first made have mint luster and what do they look like after a few years . They sure as heck will lose that luster. we can not call something altered just because it is not so pretty. I bet even you do not look so good as you did as a teenager. remember there is a thing called age.

 

coin

i found this one this week. it's dull instead of shiney.

 

rascal,

You need to work on your reading and comprehension skills. Nowhere did I state the OP's 2000-D Cent could be made out of steel. Let me explain what I wrote so you can understand it.

That means I think the coin has either been in a fire or has been heated sufficiently to destroy the copper plating. And by copper plating I mean the copper plating on a modern zinc cent.

By that I meant that the OP could have easily determined whether the coin was steel by simply checking it with a magnet. If the coin is not attracted to a magnet then it could not be made of steel. By easily determining the coin is not made of steel the OP would not have needed to ask us if it could be made of steel.

¿Comprende?