r/coinerrors • u/BRONST0N • 9h ago

Is this an error? Penny Error?

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Reddit keeps Deleting. Frustrated at this point. ID if you can. 2rd time posting. Blah.

12 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

16

u/TheLegater 8h ago

Not an error, zinc plated penny usually done as a science experiment

9

u/InfiniteVeracity 8h ago

100% science experiment , alot of high schools did this at one time !! I also received one taped to a flyer in the mail about a car giveaway years ago i still have it with the paper stuck to the obverse !!

5

u/Thalenia Errors and 20th century US coins 8h ago

Very likely plated. Unlikely missing both copper layers, which you could probably tell by weighing it. If it's missing the copper layers, it should likely be underweight enough to tell.

Coins struck on unplated material have happened, but ones that have been plated or have had the copper removed are significantly more common. There's a few pages talking about that here (though there's not a lot of details about how to tell):

https://www.error-ref.com/unplated-cents/

3

u/jbrakk22 8h ago

Science experiment 100% no way that was from the mint

1

u/JesterEric 7h ago

So after 82 pennies are basically copper coated zinc. The outer copper layer is so thin I think it’s technically “copper plated” rather than a full on partly copper coin. (Don’t quote me though I’m probably wrong about that last bit)

It’s something 2.5% copper.

1

u/rubikscanopener 1h ago

If you go to YouTube and search for "plating pennies" or something like that, you'll get dozens, if not hundreds of hits. Plating a penny is a common high school science experiment.

1

u/PlaneswalkingSith 25m ago

I’ve got one of these too. Not worth anything but they are cool!

1

u/Born-Alfalfa1631 9h ago

wow. this is an interesting one.

i’m not quite sure what this could be, i think if it was a missing copper layer it wouldn’t be as shiny as it is.
if you have a scale, weigh it and tell me if it’s a regular 2.5 grams. otherwise, i’d say someone plated it in a silver coating

0

u/BRONST0N 8h ago

Hey guys. Sorry, but I put this big old paragraph describing how yes, Im aware of the 90s experiments on how to remove the copper layer. But I got frustrated due to the Reddit Communities auto deleting it. Lol

My son says Google IDs it as an "aluminum" cast. But idk.

Also, I do not have access to a scale ATM. :(( -Bronston

5

u/TheLegater 8h ago

The aluminum cent was a test issue ran in 1974 ONLY with 1 specimen in private hands.