My name is stephanie and I have come across an interesting penny. It is a 1976 silver penny. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it.
hello stephanie, and welcome to the forum. I hope this doesn't come as too much of a let down, but what you most likely have is the result of a science class expirement called electroplating, or some such, or else the penny has been plated. The chances of this penny being an authentic silver minted error piece are very close to 0. If you run a search in this forum for silver penny, you will find many threads like this one, that will tell you all about the process that ends up with a penny that appears to be made from silver.
Hi Stephanie, I just wanted to add a few other ways to check the coin but more than likely you have a electroplated Penny as Rick stated! Take your 1976 Penny and another Penny with the same composition (i.e. Lincoln Cents minted from 1959 up to and including some in 1982 are composed mostly of Copper while starting in 1982 to Present they are Copper-Plated with a Zinc core) and lightly drop them one at a time on a hard surfaced or glass surfaced table and compare the ring. If your 1976 Penny has a different ring (sound), then you will want to investigate the coin further! First, check to see if the coin will stick to a magnet. If so, then it is made of steel or at least a composite with steel. If it has a distinctive ring like a Mercury Dime or a Roosevelt Dime made from 1946 to 1964, then it is possible that it is Silver and you would want to follow-up even futher on your investigation of the coin. You can have the coin weighed at a local Jeweler's Shop or a Pawn Shop. The Cent (Penny) should weigh exactly 2.5 grams or very close to it! If it is in fact, quite a bit heavier or lighter in weight than a standard (normal) 1959 to 1982 Lincoln Memorial Cent, then I would suggest taking sending it off to a Grading (Company) Service to have it authenticated, graded, slabbed and attributed. I would not really recommend doing so but you could also have the local Jeweler's Shop or Pawn Shop, test the coin for Silver content. They would have to be extremely careful as the test could damage the coin and make sure that they only rub off (onto their' test block) a slight amount of metal from the outside edge of the coin beyond the rim. Good luck and high hopes that you have a rare Error Penny! Frank
Could possibly be an aluminum cent as well since 1.5 million where made then destroyed and some 75 were made in aluminum so might be possible it happened again in 76. If you can weigh it at home with a scale that can read the weight of it and it weighs less than a normal cent then don't get it slabbed just hide it lol. Then maybe one day when you have grand kids they could probably sell it since the Secret Service wouldn't be on a look out for their aluminum cents.
Experimental aluminum cents were made in 1974. Most were destroyed except a very few that maybe illegal to own. Read the latest story about a 1974 cent certified recently by ICG: http://www.icgcoin.com/p050701.htm
... 1,579,324 1974 One Cent pieces were struck in Aluminum, a handful going to members of Congress and staff members. The entire mintage was destroyed except for an estimated dozen examples that were never recovered from the Congressmen and their staffs. One example resides in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, having been turned over to the museum by Charles Holstein, staff director for the House Banking Subcommittee at the time. In early 2001, a report surfaced that an unnamed grading service had examined a 1974 Aluminum Cent, but had not authenticated or encapsulated the coin. The coin was reportedly in the hands of the family of a deceased Capitol Hill police officer who found the piece in 1973 "on the pavement while on duty in the basement of the House Office Building" where the officer believed it had been dropped by a Congressman.
silver 1976 penny -- help! Hi all -- new to the site. I have a silver penny dated 1976 that has an imprint of the liberty bell above and sort of on top of the word "LIBERTY" also has the outline of the United States with USA stamped on the inside. Will someone let me know if it is worth anything or if it is just a random find!! Thanks!
There are many of this type out there...its a novelty coin that a Co. has made...its a real US Cent with a imprint of the bell on it...it has no value to Coin Collectors. Speedy
Take a few thousand Cents and spread them on your bed. Now take a strong magnet a pass it over all of them. If any stick to the magnet it will be a 1943 Zinc coated Steel Cent. That's the only Cent that would stick to a magnet. Now let me ask you this also..Is your Penny Canadian? That I believe sticks to a magnet!
Hello, I have a 1976 no mint mark penny. It looks yellow to gold or brass in color. It weighs 3.2 grams. And it sticks to a magnet. And at looks silver or nickel color around the edges. I don't see the copper color at all. And it's in beautiful condition.. ty
It might be in a bezel, that would account for the extra weight and the odd colored edge. Post some pictures and I am sure someone can help.
Why are there no pictures of all these pennies I would think if all these things were being found that someone would post some pictures so some of you could help them out just my thought
