This might sound like a terribly odd question. But are pennies constructed of more than one piece? I mean do they stamp the image into a piece of metal or is it two pieces "snapped" (for lack of a better word) together? The reason I ask is the other day at work, I got a penny back with my change, and the penny didn't have a face side. Basically I got half a penny. The piece I got is very thin with a metal rim. The outside is standard penny color of course and the inside is silvery metal. I know little to nothing about coins and would appreciate any clarification on this.
They are clad, just like tha majority of our currency. The core is zinc and the outer is a thin layer of copper.
Exactly like mikr said, but the early issues (WWII time frame)were made with various metals. I like the shell-case ones. I often wonder what the history of each was. Bone
i'd beg to differ, pennies after 1989 are copper plated zinc the copper being only .005" thick, 1943 pennies are zinc plated steel, and the rest are a mixture of zinc , tin and copper mostly copper, i know this is my first repost on this site but i can offer a little expertise on lincoln cents, it one of the main items i sell.
The guys right.... I think you both are in a way just posted a few ways to look at it... a cent is 99.2% zinc and .8% copper with a plating of pure copper...at least that is how I learned it... Speedy
yeah speedy i forgot to mention that i have lincoln cents, from the US mint that have no copper plate, real sharp looking coins, i've got 2003, 2004, 2005 they look relatively like the 1943 steely.
Okay .. I'm totally ignorant of coins. What does clad mean? So what do you think this partial penny I have is then? I've never seen anything like it.
I can't be certain without seeing the coin, but my son has a magic trick whereby the cent is exactly like you describe so that a dime will fit inside of it. I'm not sure how they modified the cent, but it is a common and widely sold magic trick prop....
I think that the silver colored piece added to the inside of the cent is some kind of metal to give it strength. See if yours will perfectly cover a dime....
I just remembered that the piece added to the inside of the cent is to make it be able to be lifted off of the dime with a small, magnetic, 'magic box'. Good looking trick, and I could see someone spending one as my son has certainly 'lost' more than one of them.
Okay that must be what it is then. A dime fit into it for the most part, it was raised up above the top of the rim a bit but it fit inside the penny. I tried a couple of magnets on it and it took a fairly strong magnet to attract the penny part. Thanks! I was really intrigued by this hollow penny lol. Now I feel silly being so inquisitive over a common magic trick.
I wonder how they hollow it out so perfectly like that. Seems like a lot of effort for a magic trick and a penny lol
They do it with a metal lathe and then sell them in novelty shops for about $5. The price makes it worthwhile.
