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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Oldhoopster, post: 2749600, member: 84179&quot;]No easy (i.e., inexpensive) way to tell.&nbsp; I have a few 1983-85 set aside that have a distinctive yellow color, which was during the time period that planchet supplier(s?) were having problems with the zinc blanks falling into the plating solution and dissolving.&nbsp; I labeled them as brass on the 2x2s but I can&#039;t prove it.</p><p><br /></p><p>You would need to do an elemental analysis like XRF to determine the amount of zinc in the plating and that isn&#039;t cheap.&nbsp; Plus, there&#039;s a lot of zinc right under the thin plating so there&#039;s a possibility that the xray beam will penetrate the surface deep enough to interact.&nbsp; I really don&#039;t think the handheld analyzers are sensitive enough to deal with the thin plating.</p><p><br /></p><p>Copper is a very reactive metal so there is always the possibility that the color may be due to other environmental factors, as well.&nbsp; I&#039;m confident that at least 2 or 3 of my coins have a brass coating, but without data, it&#039;s just my opinion (and opinions are like certain parts of the human anatomy, everyone has one).</p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line, it will probably be a couple hundred bucks for a test and unless you really know the equipment and sampling techniques, you can&#039;t be sure.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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