Hi all. How do you tell if a Lincoln cent is brass? Weight does not seem to be an issue as my digital scale shows no difference between those with that pale yellow hue and those that look normal. I see in Numismatic News one could buy them, but I enjoy the hunt and could use a few tips if anyone knows. Also while I was looking at Fred Weinberg's error coin site I see that there are cents that look normal but were slabbed and graded as being made from a planchet intended for a Cuban coin... Is weight the only way to tell or am I missing something? I've found many pre-1982 Lincoln cents underweight, some by .1 grams, some only weighing 1.5 grams. Well, that's my question for the day I guess. Thanks for the help! -Andy
Weight is not a good way to tell because weight is dependent on the size of the planchet and because common brass and bronze alloys have specific gravities that are nearly identical, and color is not a good way either. The only real way is with special equpment that bombards the coin with x-rays and then analyzes the x-rays that are re-emitted by the coin. The different elements will each emit x-rays of a specific frequency unique to that element, and the strength of the signal will tell you how much of each element is there. If there are Lincolns struck on Cuban one centavo planchets they would have to be 1953 or 54. 1953 was the only year they had a centavo that wasn't silver colored. (either coppernickel or aluminum) A cent struck on a Cuba one centavo planchet should be very easy to spot though, the Cuban planchet is 2 mm smaller in diameter than the Lincoln cent. I'm not sure how they could occur though, because we didn't strike the 1953 Cuban centavos. What I don't know though is whether or not we created the planchets for Cuba. As far as underweight pre-1982 cents goes, .1 grams underweight is still within the mints allowed tolerance range. A 1.5 gram cent though could be something, or could also just be a coin that has been soaked in acid. We would need to see pictures.
