Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 It weighs 3.11 grams? A 1973 US Cent weight is usually 3.11 grams? And the diameter is 19 mm If this is a counterfeit it’s a very precise counterfeit since the weight and diameter are correct. Certainly seems out of sorts; who would go thru that much trouble to ensure the weight and diameter are correct for single penny and slip in a sealed Denver Mint coin bag for me to find. Anyway; any advise you can offer would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsshog40 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Looks to have been plated. Oldhoopster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Bill347 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Could thus be one of those few very rare mint experiment coins made in 1973 as a test using aluminum? https://www.blanchardgold.com/resources/1973-74-aluminum-lincoln-penny/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P M Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) On 3/14/2022 at 10:23 AM, Mr.Bill347 said: Could thus be one of those few very rare mint experiment coins made in 1973 as a test using aluminum? https://www.blanchardgold.com/resources/1973-74-aluminum-lincoln-penny/ LoL that would be a one in a million find Bill.... LoL ......but it does look like it is a plated coin and not the real deal. A Denver mind bag you say Ron? If it was Aluminum I would think it would not weigh the same as a copper cent? Edited March 14, 2022 by J P Mashoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tj96 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 If it weighs 3.11 grams, it's not aluminum. Most likely plated. Did you put a magnet on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenstang Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 A plated coin. Possibly a high school experiment, see quite a few of these around. An aliminum coin would only weigh about .9g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex in PA. Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Another one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 7:57 AM, Greenstang said: A plated coin. Possibly a high school experiment, see quite a few of these around. An aliminum coin would only weigh about .9g I am wondering how someone could deal with the world of coins and not be able to tell the difference in weight between bronze and aluminum. Gods. You and others are right, of course: it's plated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P M Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 11:01 AM, Alex in PA. said: Another one! I see we go through the same trends a lot here ? It must be the web ? We have our plating season then a copper run with 1922 and 43 and then a lot of SD 82 D in-between and the DD everywhere posts . I love to help out the new members with the correct Information . What I want to know is who is leading them to the wishing well. Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 So yes I picked this up when I was working in a bank vault as a coin wrapper in 1973; it came in a sealed bag of pennies with a Denver Mint Seal - the seal are recorded and bags are counted and wrapped. It is magnetic and weighs the correct weight for a 1973 D Cent, also is the correct diameter. As for the counterfeit comment; it hard to believe that anyone would go thru the trouble of counterfeiting a US cent so precise. As for the plating thoughts; if it was plated that usually means it would be heaver than the normal US cent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex in PA. Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 11:36 AM, J P Mashoke said: What I want to know is who is leading them to the wishing well. I have my suspicions but you never know. Maybe a bunch of those dreaming for that million dollar coin found in the Walmart parking lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWB Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 A 1973 cent has a nominal weight of 3.11+ grams. If the identical coin were made from 90% silver it would weigh 3.64+ grams. If made from aluminum it would weigh 0.93 grams. Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 12:50 PM, RWB said: A 1973 cent has a nominal weight of 3.11+ grams. If the identical coin were made from 90% silver it would weigh 3.64+ grams. If made from aluminum it would weigh 0.93 grams. Its definitely not an Aluminum cent and I'm not implying that it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 9:50 AM, tj96 said: If it weighs 3.11 grams, it's not aluminum. Most likely plated. Did you put a magnet on it? Yes it is magnetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tj96 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 I have a great idea. It just hit me. Why don't you submit the coin to a place called the Numismatic Guaranty Company. They grade and authenticate coins. Post the results here when it's done. Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_48 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 12:58 PM, tj96 said: I have a great idea. It just hit me. Why don't you submit the coin to a place called the Numismatic Guaranty Company. They grade and authenticate coins. Post the results here when it's done. So I went thru the expense and sent to PCGS who immediately called it a plated coin; however when pressed for details on how they came to the conclusions they did not provide any info. So sending it to another place to tell me that just as a cursory look its plated doesnt seem to provide any value. I will go look at what it cost to have done, but I'm sure they will not do the work to research it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tj96 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) On 3/14/2022 at 2:04 PM, Ron_48 said: So I went thru the expense and sent to PCGS who immediately called it a plated coin; however when pressed for details on how they came to the conclusions they did not provide any info. So sending it to another place to tell me that just as a cursory look its plated doesnt seem to provide any value. I will go look at what it cost to have done, but I'm sure they will not do the work to research it. And you should have told us that upfront! The TPG'ers don't have the time or the people to give you or anyone written or detailed explanations or history of the coins. Edited March 14, 2022 by tj96 Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex in PA. Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 @tj96 tj96 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tj96 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 2:22 PM, Alex in PA. said: @tj96 Thanks for the reality check Alex!! 👍🏻 Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coinbuf Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 An obviously plated coin, 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P M Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 1:43 PM, Ron_48 said: So yes I picked this up when I was working in a bank vault as a coin wrapper in 1973; it came in a sealed bag of pennies with a Denver Mint Seal - the seal are recorded and bags are counted and wrapped. It is magnetic and weighs the correct weight for a 1973 D Cent, also is the correct diameter. As for the counterfeit comment; it hard to believe that anyone would go thru the trouble of counterfeiting a US cent so precise. As for the plating thoughts; if it was plated that usually means it would be heaver than the normal US cent. There is a tolerance + or - I have some plated coins I keep on my desk left over from a 1970s Hallmark type of display of old cents. They threw in some copper plated copper coins to dress it up more. The weight is hardly even noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 12:42 PM, Coinbuf said: An obviously plated coin, 100%. The OP may ask why we all say “obviously plated”. Simple. With facts we have, this is the ONLY possibility. Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 1:00 PM, VKurtB said: The OP may ask why we all say “obviously plated”. Simple. With facts we have, this is the ONLY possibility. That's one sound reason. Another is that plating of pennies is a common science experiment/activity and isn't very difficult, which means we see a lot of it (you know this, Kurt, but the OP might not), and it doesn't strike us as unusual or valuable. No one with sense will pay a premium for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKurtB Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) On 3/14/2022 at 4:36 PM, JKK said: That's one sound reason. Another is that plating of pennies is a common science experiment/activity and isn't very difficult, which means we see a lot of it (you know this, Kurt, but the OP might not), and it doesn't strike us as unusual or valuable. No one with sense will pay a premium for it. I, like many guys who spent years working in photo labs, made literally hundreds of these puppies by soaking nice shiny cents in the Fixer bath of the Process C-41 negative film processor. It only took about 2 minutes to plate them fully. The Fixer was at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and was loaded with available silver ions removed from the film. The Fixer removed the silver image, leaving the dye image in the negatives. The silver ions held onto the nice clean copper for dear life. You almost couldn’t even scrub it off with a metal brush. Edited March 14, 2022 by VKurtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 1:04 PM, Ron_48 said: So sending it to another place to tell me that just as a cursory look its plated doesnt seem to provide any value. I will go look at what it cost to have done, but I'm sure they will not do the work to research it. What research would they need to do, in your opinion? Where would they need to look? I checked the Annual Reports of the Director of the Mint for 1973 and 1974. There is no record of any coins minted in the US for foreign countries that would be ferromagnetic, so the idea that your coin might have been struck on a foreign planchet is most unlikely. The weight is not right for a steel cent, which rules out a planchet left over from 1943. We know it isn't aluminum, either. The experts at NGC probably already know all of the above information, so I am not sure what more they could hope to discover. If you sent your coin to NGC, they very likely would test the weight, analyze the metal content, and check to see if it was attracted to a magnet. PCGS probably did the same. Weighing it would show it to match the weight of a normal cent. Shooting it with an XRF gun would show the presence of a ferromagnetic metal, probably nickel. The magnet test would confirm this. All of this would lead to the most obvious conclusion. If you can come up with an explanation other than plating, I would love to hear it. Oldhoopster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldhoopster Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 @Ron_48 You already did the research to prove it's plated. In your first post you said it weighs 3.11 gms and is the same diameter as a cent. Unless there is a noticeable thickness difference (it looks normal in your pic) that would indicate that the density of the metal is the same as a cent. For example steel and aluminum have lower densities than 95%Cu so a coin of normal size would weigh less, while silver and gold have higher densities would weigh more. Your coin weighs the same, so unless You can find a metal with the same density as a cent AND find some evidence that the mint used it as experimental planchets or to strike foreign coins, you simply have a plated coin. No sense in sending it back in, you already proved it. Gotta love science JKK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
