I have a wierd 1974 D Lincoln Penny

Actually they did make pattern copper clad steel cent in 1974. But they would be lighter than a copper cent (Probably about 2.8 gm) and they would be STRONGLY attracted to a magnet.

Nickel is often used a base plate layer, so a nickel plating then gold plated would not be unusual. Such a piece would be lightly attracted to a strong magnet.

 

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do not guess at the weight....standard weight is more probable.. if you read a copy the mint press release dated 12 07 73 testing was done with 7 diff alloys..........what happened to the rest of the planchetts??????????ooops thrown in large bin then thru minting cycle with copper planchetts........read all the info you can find on the 1974d and what they went thru to find retired mint employees who knew about the aluminum test pieces..NOW ASK THE MINT THE REAL QUESTION....HOW MANY PLANCHETTS WERE MADE UP AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM..DUMPED IN CIRCULATION???? TJ

 

Necro nonsense........start a new thread.

 

I don't have a copy of that press release, did they list weights? I would be surprised if they did. I would assume they would want to keep the coin the same size as the current cent (in 1974) and they did that with a copper plated steel planchet the weight would be less than the standard weight. In order for it to be standard weight the coin would have to be larger. Most likely accomplished by making it thicker.

 

hey conder101 the key here is alloy mix...for the core or entire coin. we'll be getting into metallurgy shortly. the coin that is slightly attracted to a magnet tells me that its the plating not a steel core. we have a core alloy and a plating alloy. food for thought METAL DETECTORS IGNOR WHAT METALS........TJ

 

For durability of the plating, it is a common practice with jewelry (for example) to plate with nickel first and then gold on top of that.

Pure nickel is magnetic. A thin plating of pure nickel would be attracted to a "strong" magnet.

 

ok D C What were looking at are a series of 1974 Lincolns minted by the U S MINT not altered after being circulated. Plated after issue coin weight would be over 3.11. Plus the after issue plating will obscure fine detailing. Refer to mint press release 12 07 1973 testing of 7 different alloys. What happened to the extra planchetts and how many got into circulation..........

 

Edited.

 

Know one knows?
The only way they will have any value,
Is to change the law,
Maybe one day.
They, will GrandFather the Law,
And, let the people own our own history.
Hypothetical of course!

 

hey P and G THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.......AND WE WILL FIND IT......MINT REPORT 12 07 1973 COIN WORLD HAS A COPY........

 

I am with ya.

 

As part of my minting business, I have electro-plated numerous coins with gold, silver, rhodium, and nickel. The plated layer is very thin and it does not diminish the fine details at all. It does not change the weight enough to register any difference on my scientific scale.

 

I have one of these. 1970 and 1974.
Edited - No B/S/T here.

 

And how do you know that?

Would it? Mint tolerance on a cent is +/-.13 grams so straight from the mint it could weigh from 2.98 grams to 3.23 grams so the fact that yours weighs 3.11 grams doesn't mean it hasn't been plated.

Only if the fine detail is smaller than .0005 inches, or the plater just gobbed on the material.

I'm with DCarr here someone some some experience at plating could plate it with nickel and then gold and you would never know it by visual or weight inspection.

A specific gravity test might tell you something, but not much. The gold would be such a small amount that it probably would not register within your error tolerance, and nickel is basically the same SG as copper so a plated copper cent would probably have the same SG as an unplated one (To within your tolerance error) The experimental alloys maybe not. I know aluminum wouldn't, nor would the copper clad steel. (But it isn't that one because it isn't strongly attracted to the magnet.)

 

hey P and G CONDER101 were hot on the trail..............reference 1974-usa one cent pattern alternate materials for one cent coinage.............................................THEY EXIST.......... GOOGLE THE REFERANCE

 

OK googled the reference and read it. While they considered several materials they rejected all but four before they proceeded to further testing, various copper zinc alloys, various aluminum manganese or aluminum magnesium alloys, chrome plated steel, and bronze clad steel. All of them were coined using nonsense dies but we can ignore those, because the coin in question uses regular dies. One one was said to have been coined using regular dies, the aluminum alloy. We know that isn't correct because copper clad steel coins of the regular design do exist. So lets assume that they did strike all four with regular dies.

Chrome plated steel would be silver colored and highly magnetic. The coin in question is gold in color and only slightly magnetic. The reference does not give complete specs for the material, (weight and SG) but since steel has a lower density than copper I would expect the chrome plated steel to weigh less than a standard copper cent and have a lower SG. The coin in question weighs the same as a standard copper cent, another reason for rejecting this as a possible composition for the coin in question.

Aluminum would be silver in color, WAY lighter than a standard cent, and non magnetic. Three strikes the coin in question is not aluminium.

Copper clad steel, would be lighter in weight and have a lower SG than a standard copper cent, but do to tolerance ranges it just might be possible for a copper clad cent blank to be within the lower tolerance range of that of a copper cent. But to be the full legal weight of a copper cent would be highly unlikely. Still we will let that go for the moment and assume it is possible. A copper clad steel cent would show the three layer cladding on the edge of the coin, something that has not been mentioned in reference to the subject coin, and it will be highly magnetic, which the subject coin is not. I think we can eliminate the copper clad steel possibility.

This only leaves the copper zinc alloys. A higher zinc content could give you a golden color, and the weight could be within the tolerance range for a standard copper cent. The SG would be lower, but we don't know what the SG of the subject coin is. NONE of the copper zinc alloys though would be even slightly magnetic which the subject coin is. Since none of the alloys are magnetic probably the only way to provide that magnetism would be by plating. (Having a magnetic material contaminating the melt would not do it. The contamination amount would have to be so high it would never be unnoticed.)

So if it has to be plated to provide the magnetic property, why assume some exotic alloy underneath, when a plated standard cent is thousands of time more likely? Unless an abnormally low SG is determined there is no reason to assume it to be anything but a plated standard copper cent.

 

all interesting issues...metal detectors don't tell the whole story Alum Alloy (grey still mellowing after all these years) no signal ignores it.....SUNSHINE LINCOLN (shiny yellow/gold) weak signal......standard issue copper sings like banshee.......check this scan any shiny penny into comp blow it up look a all details ABE sitting pretty check out the landscaping...This looks real nice any crud or plating will coverup details.....NOW YOU KNOW HOW I KNOW............WHERES FANTANSYSHROOMIN

 

I have read and learned a lot from Conder101
Not saying take it as the one and only truth.
I would stack it away for a while.
Come back to it after looking at another
10000 coins.

 

hey p & g The SUNSHINE LINCOLN OF 1974 is the prettiest penny the U S MINT ever produced...conder101 missed it...the bright shiny finish is caused by highly polished alloy planchetts with the earliest known use of manganese brass. google that it is slightly attracted to magnets, its also used on the Sacajawe dollar coins....also not ruling out the planchett belongs to foreign govt that the us mint minted coins for....

 

Manganese brass can be slightly magnetic if the manganese content is high. We have never used an alloy with that high a manganese content (If you check you will find that the current Manganese brass dollars are not magnetic. Not are war nickels that have a much higher Mangangese content). Manganese brass is not mentioned in the Mint study you wanted us to google earlier either. Yes the mint did strike coins for other countries around that time, but I don't believe any of them contained Manganese. If you really want I can check I have listing of all the coins the mint has made for other countries and their compositions.