after going thru some of the wheaties i have sorted i have found some that have seemed to age with a reddish color to them. is this something due to the different metal types. range of these coins is 1945 to 50
Remember just after World War II, copper from spent shell casings were melted and used for the productioin of Lincoln cents. Starting in 1944 after the failure and public outcry of the 1943 Steel cent, 1944 cents reported a color of a bit more yellow than previous issues. Many MS coins found today have some discoloration in the form of streaks and/or spotting. Some have attributed this to the chemical residue from the explosives in shellcases which effected the overall quality of these cents. All in all, it has been reported that cents produced from 1944 to 1946 (some even think until as late as 1949), that all have some degree of spotting and discoloration due to the reclaimation of shell casings. Some have more than others, but like anything else...the less "new" metal that is added to the existing melt, the more likely you will end up with a final product that is not as "pure" as one that starts out with "fresh", high-grade, pure copper.
thanks for the reply. these coins are like a dull brick red in color with the whole coin affected except for the outside edge. noticed one in a few consecutive years and was curious about it. thanks again the info here at this site is great
shell casings I've heard that story too, but a recent article in Coin World suggests that the "reused shell casings" line may have been mostly propaganda. I'm certainly no expert, so who knows? In any case, that article is worth a read.
Just read the Coin World (3/20/06) article too. Interesting to find out that some of the tin added to our cents may have been in short supply as well. Both David Lange's book "The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents" and the Red Book suggest these color differances are attributed to the World War II "shell-casing" reasoning that I mentioned above. Like you said, "who knows?". You learn something new everyday in this hobby. It is something to look out for as keeping Lincolns RED is indeed a challenge.
True that those years were made from the spent shell casings and it was not propaganda. It wasa great and cheap sourse of copper that was not only available but something had to be done with the metals. there were naturally a lot of contaminates in this metal and not from gun powder either. That all vanishes with high temperatures at a foundry where the metals are melted. It just wasn't in a budget to purify the metals further so pennies it was. Many batches varied in types of impurities back in those days but not sufficiently enought to stop the process of making such a low denomination of coin. I don't think any one really knows for sure when the shell casings were all used up and normal procedures really began. It would take a chemist with a spectroscope to anylize for specific material contents. Back to your question, the outside edge being different is probably due to the coins being encased in a tube of some sorts. This would mean less air got to the face or reverse compared to the edges. Therefore a different aging process for the edge which could mean a different color. Then again maybe they were just buffed with Blue Coral Auto Wax.
