1922 D cent possible bronze planchet? 0

[Coin Maximus]

Hi, my name is Gary,

I'm a little nervous about posting, not sure I know what I'm doing.

I have this penny, it's a little pitted and probably cleaned at one time. 

1922 D reverse Die cracks, it weighs 2.99 gr. has more of a yellowish gold color and don't look like other cleaned cent pennies?

I haven't or haven't thought about sending this coin in for grading because its clean and pitted but now,

I'm thinking the alloy mix or planchet maybe of a different coin planchet??

Which may give it some value?

I'm looking for some opinions or suggestions on what a more experienced  collector  would do with this coin?

I like and want to keep it but I also would like to know what I hold,

What do you think of the weight of this coin and color?

Thank for reading this, any thoughts suggestions would be appreciated. 

Hope I did this right"

 

 

[JT2]

Hey  welcome to the forums...  what you have is a nice album coin thats about it.  looks like to me an old "Brasso" job.  It wouldn't be worth your time or money to send it in.  

[Greenstang]

2.99g is within spec for a Lincoln copper coin. 
You can’t tell the composition by the colour as copper can change to many colours, depending on what is has been exposed to. Certainly not worth spending $50-60.00 getting graded when it is only worth a couple of cents.

[Sandon]

   Yes, your 1922-D cent is composed of bronze.  It's supposed to be!   Cents from the 1864 bronze issue until the fall of 1962, except for the 1943 zinc coated steel and the 1944-46 "shell case copper (brass)" issues are composed of 95% copper 5% zinc and tin alloy, which is bronze.  The elimination of tin from the alloy in 1944-46 and 1962-82 made them technically brass.  As others have stated, the discoloration indicates post-mint exposure to chemicals, not an unusual alloy.

   It's good that you are looking at coins, but you have to learn what to look for. 

[GoldFinger1969]

If you want to spend more time collecting coins and learning about them, please buy the latest edition of Whitman's A Guide Book To United States Coins, also known as The Red Book which covers all American coinage to the present. 

[Coin Maximus]

Well, thanks you all for your replies

The weight and shiny color of gold made me think their maybe more to it .

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum Gary, the bright pink, yet dull, color that can be seen in your photo showing the edge is a dead giveaway that the coin has been dipped or harshly cleaned.   The different mints sourced the raw metals, and/or planchets from different sources so there is a wide gamete of colors that the copper coins produced from each mint and even from year to year.

As an aside, it is not a good idea to hold collectable coins with your fingers touching the face, only hold by the edge.   It is not a big deal in this case as the coin has already been damaged, but the oils from our skin can etch the surfaces of coins and copper is especially reactive.

[Coin Maximus]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:25 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

If you want to spend more time collecting coins and learning about them, please buy the latest edition of Whitman's A Guide Book To United States Coins, also known as The Red Book which covers all American coinage to the present. 

I thought that book would be expensive. 

Not to bad, thanks I think I will"

[Sandon]

    The Red Book is just one of the essential resources that you need to obtain a basic understanding of how and what to collect regarding U.S. coins. There's an expression from decades ago, "Buy the book before the coin." Today books and other print publications can be supplemented by online resources. See the following topic for some suggestions:

 

[RWB]

Removal of tin from the cent began in May 1942. The direction was "a detectable trace of tin to comply with law." I've forgotten exactly when this was changed to 95-5 copper zinc brass.

[VKurtB]

On 2/23/2023 at 6:31 PM, RWB said:

Removal of tin from the cent began in May 1942. The direction was "a detectable trace of tin to comply with law." I've forgotten exactly when this was changed to 95-5 copper zinc brass.

1962-ish, I think. 

[EagleRJO]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:31 PM, RWB said:

I've forgotten exactly when this was changed to 95-5 copper zinc brass.

On 2/24/2023 at 11:33 AM, VKurtB said:

1962-ish, I think. 

It does look like the composition was changed to brass in 1962 (1944 to 1946 "shell casing brass" aside) based on the attached mint specs from ANA and the US mint as published by Coin World.

[Sandon]

   According to Breen's Encyclopedia (p.233), tin was eliminated from the cent in September 1962. Breen commented that "[o]nly spectroscopy readily distinguishes them." To my knowledge, no one has been sufficiently obsessed to attempt to collect 1962 cents by bronze and brass compositions.

[RWB]

The 1962 difference was between a trace to comply with law, and no trace to comply with new law. "Shell case" cents are the same alloy as after May 1942 and until 1962. They cannot be distinguished from any other traced of tin alloy. (The traced of tin was usually added by tossing in a handful of mutilated and damaged old cents from before 1942. Some assays snowed no tin, but the melts were not condemned.)

One other note -- Large copper cents and half cents were not really "pure" copper. They always had about 2% contaminants such as lead, antimony, tin, and silver.

Edited February 25, 2023 by RWB

[GBrad]

On 2/23/2023 at 1:28 PM, Coinbuf said:

As an aside, it is not a good idea to hold collectable coins with your fingers touching the face, only hold by the edge.   It is not a big deal in this case as the coin has already been damaged, but the oils from our skin can etch the surfaces of coins and copper is especially reactive.

I WILL SECOND THIS COMMENT FROM COINBUF!!!!! 👍 (Not yelling by typing in all caps..... I'M SCREAMING!!!!) 😁

Welcome to the forum!!!! There's a tremendous amount of knowledge here at your disposal from our expert numismatic members.  I feel safe in saying there is easily a total of 500+ years of cumulative experience and knowledge on this chat board.  Good luck!

Edited February 25, 2023 by GBrad