Hi, My 1904 'Indian Head' penny (3.17 gm.) has been 'silvered'. (Note the wear marks in the photos.) Presuming that this was done at the mint, I consulted my 'Red' Book (2017) but I couldn't find a reference to it being 'silvered'. Can anyone shed some light on this for me please? As a collector of 'Ancient' coins, I am aware that some coins were 'silvered' officially, and some (Fourrees) were silvered to deceive. Has anyone heard if that is the case here?
This is most definitely plated post mint. It is hard to tell the timeline and reasoning. Some are plated to see if they can do it, some for decoration/jewelry, others for deceit. It is unlikely for deceit.
Hey @Topcat7 moderns are quite different from ancients. Don't know of any deliberate silvering of modern coins.
@Kentucky Nor did I, and that is why I thought that it might have occurred at the mint. There would be no (monetary) value in doing it after production, would there?
Actually people do this kind of stuff Post Mint in order to claim "Fabulous Error" "Only One Ever Found", etc. No government mint that I know of has ever silver or gold plated any coins, now copper....
I think another option to consider is back in the 1940's and 1950's, it was quite common that people would dip coins in Mercury. I've seen plenty of coins posted over the years that were silvery in color (but weren't supposed to be). I've seen many people of an age that would have been kids during that time say this is something that was quite common to do.
