KerstynLee Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 (edited) Well hello, mass of people who have a ridiculous amount of knowledge on a subject I am completely clueless about! Hopefully someone can help, I'm genuinely just curious. Don't worry, I'll make this long and boring, just for you! 😉 My mother just passed away. I'm planning a celebration of life service for her and I want the "theme" to be "Pennies from Heaven"... Tonight when I actually started going through my various change receptacles, I noticed a silver penny. I didn't think much of it but kept it to the side. There is no mint mark (I'm sorry, like I said, I'm clueless here so I hope that's what I was trying to say 😅) and it's from the year 1959. What has my interest so piqued now is the wildly different things I've read online about this particular penny. Some say it's rare, some say it's trash basically. So. If anyone would be so kind to assist, I'd be more than happy to provide more pictures (ignore my hideous nails and cuticles, the stress of losing my mom unexpectedly has made me do strange things) or whatever else I can. I just would like to know more about it. If it is in fact something special, then I would obviously like to incorporate it into the service for my mother. Thank you all so much in advance! 😘 Edited June 1, 2021 by KerstynLee *Just wanted to clarify the penny IS silver, the lighting is low in my dining room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JKK Posted June 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2021 Condolences. You came to the right place. Don't worry about the nails--this isn't the salon, this is the coin people. You should see some of the gnarly fingertips we get in here holding coins for photos. That penny isn't silver, though I see why you'd think so. It's been plated, common in HS science experiments. It has no special value from a numismatic standpoint, and if it did, that edge ding would be crippling. It's a 1959 Philadelphia (no MM means Philly) memorial reverse cent with light wear but between the plating and ding, has a collectible value no greater than face. So if you want to do something special for the ceremony that could involve this penny's loss, that will not be negative or wasteful in any way. If it can help you with your grieving and sendoff, you should do that. If knowing that it has been plated actually makes it more germane to the celebration, better still. You'll never spend a wiser penny in your life. Here's one idea: depending on her birth year, it would be very simple to come up with a roll of pennies from that year that you could give out in memoriam at the service. Local coin shops have rolls of them and circulated ones aren't usually expensive after 1934. And if you somehow can't find any, or you have time to prepare, ask on here. I or someone else will just send you a roll or however many you might need. Just about every US coin collector has so many rolls of old Lincs it'd be fantastic to get rid of some for a worthy and helpful cause where they'd really make a difference. Let us know what your timing is like. RonnieR131, Sharann, KerstynLee and 1 other 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lem E Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Very sorry to hear about your mother. My deepest condolences to you and your family. I’m sure this group could come up with more pennies than you can imagine. Sharann and KerstynLee 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KerstynLee Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 JKK - that's what I was so confused about, it's a considerable amount lighter than a regular (if that's even a thing haha) penny and it didn't seem like anything had been done to it. A few maybe like quarter inch or smaller dings around the edges. I was going to get pennies from each year of her life that had significance... she died completely unexpectedly and suddenly at only 51 years old and I have 15 days left until the service; I'm not a procrastinator but damn... I was cut off at the knees with no instructions and I'm trying like hell to honor her however I can. The penny itself was just one I happened upon while gathering up pennies for the service, and it was just kind of intriguing to me. I've honestly never even used a blogging/posting site like this for questions about anything but I don't know, something told me maybe I should give it a shot tonight. I wasn't concerned about making money off of it (though it definitely would NOT have hurt right now hahaha) but I am a very inquisitive person. I didn't know what it was so I had to find out. 😊 so I basically have a penny that LOOKS silver and is worth $0.01 just like any old regular penny is what I gleaned from that, yes? Thank you for your kind words. It means alot, I probably don't have to tell you how people can be and today has just been one of those days full of people. So your kindness means everything. Thank you so much for your help, I'm probably sitting on a gold mine but nothing else jumped out and screamed "OOHH SHINY" so I'll never know. 😂😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KerstynLee Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 Lem E - Thank you for being so kind. Good people are rare, and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to offer your condolences. That's very sweet of you. ❤ Lem E 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Bill347 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 My condolences as well, and she passed at such a young age! Very sorry. you can buy and entire set of all three mints pennies from 1956-2021 on EBay for $24.95 plus 8.95 shipping priority mail. Look for this title. 1956-2021 P,D,S MINT LINCOLN MEMORIAL & SHIELD CENTS SET best of luck and my best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Fifty-one is much too young to go. I am very sorry for your loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P M Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Yes 51 is to young ,Condolences to you and your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 7 hours ago, KerstynLee said: JKK - that's what I was so confused about, it's a considerable amount lighter than a regular (if that's even a thing haha) penny and it didn't seem like anything had been done to it. A few maybe like quarter inch or smaller dings around the edges. I was going to get pennies from each year of her life that had significance... she died completely unexpectedly and suddenly at only 51 years old and I have 15 days left until the service; I'm not a procrastinator but damn... I was cut off at the knees with no instructions and I'm trying like hell to honor her however I can. The penny itself was just one I happened upon while gathering up pennies for the service, and it was just kind of intriguing to me. I've honestly never even used a blogging/posting site like this for questions about anything but I don't know, something told me maybe I should give it a shot tonight. I wasn't concerned about making money off of it (though it definitely would NOT have hurt right now hahaha) but I am a very inquisitive person. I didn't know what it was so I had to find out. 😊 so I basically have a penny that LOOKS silver and is worth $0.01 just like any old regular penny is what I gleaned from that, yes? Thank you for your kind words. It means alot, I probably don't have to tell you how people can be and today has just been one of those days full of people. So your kindness means everything. Thank you so much for your help, I'm probably sitting on a gold mine but nothing else jumped out and screamed "OOHH SHINY" so I'll never know. 😂😂 Went through that with my father when I was 26, more than half my life ago, so I get it. This is one of those times when it's good to have people who will take care of things, and maybe we can help with the coin part. It would be a great nuisance for you to go get several bank rolls and then go through them all, and maybe still not find the years you need. It's easy to understand why you might be confused. Most people don't spend part of every day looking at pictures of altered coins. We see several most days: scraped from a parking lot, stuck in a dryer, dents pounded in, filed, brutally cleaned...and yes, replated. 1943 zinc-clad steel pennies see it a lot but it also seems to have been popular in classrooms in the early 1960s. Maybe this one was meant to lead you to here. If you want pennies for the given years, we have a bunch of folks here who are always posting modern stuff. I don't myself collect it so I cannot directly help you; I'm an ancients and world specialist who ignores US coins after 1964 most times. I think half a dozen of our regulars could easily find ten pennies for every post-1970 year you want without breaking a sweat, and would just mail them to you. I would already be PMing you for your mailing address, but I feed modern pennies to the credit union's change counter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Abshier Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Sorry for your loss. You can find a whole set of pennies online or perhaps a local coin dealer in your area can put a whole set of circulates Lincoln cents together for you . My biggest fear when I pass away is my wife and kids sell my collection off at what I told them I paid for it , or denomination on coin I can imagine my wife selling off my $2.50 gold Indians at $2.50 (she would probably say boy ! That guy sure wasted time putting a collection together for a coin worth $2.50) I’ll have to remind my kids to bury me with my collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Abshier Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 12 hours ago, KerstynLee said: Just wanted to clarify the penny IS silver, the lighting is low in my dining room. It’s also possible you have a Lincoln cent struck on a silver dime planchet it’s hard for me to tell but that’s what it looks like (cents back then were mostly copper unlike cents we have today are mostly zinc with copper layer on it . silver dime planchet is a dead give away . I’m assuming that why it looks like silver ) , if it is they are worth some money to an error coin collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, Jason Abshier said: It’s also possible you have a Lincoln cent struck on a silver dime planchet it’s hard for me to tell but that’s what it looks like (cents back then were mostly copper unlike cents we have today are mostly zinc with copper layer on it . silver dime planchet is a dead give away . I’m assuming that why it looks like silver ) , if it is they are worth some money to an error coin collector Highly unlikely. Occam’s Razor applies here. It’s been plated after minting. I myself have created hundreds of these. Jason Abshier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P M Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, VKurtB said: Highly unlikely. Occam’s Razor applies here. It’s been plated after minting. I myself have created hundreds of these. Agreed, it is plated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conder101 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 4 hours ago, Jason Abshier said: It’s also possible you have a Lincoln cent struck on a silver dime planchet it’s hard for me to tell but that’s what it looks like Nope, there are some obvious clues when that happens and they aren't present here. Not on a dime planchet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Zyskowski Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 So sorry for your loss life can sure hand out some very difficult times. Hopefully the folks here can help. I’m new in town also! Reaching out is sure one of the best ways to get help and there’s no lack of opinions 🤓 Sharann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
