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1977 D Penny
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8 posts in this topic

I found this 1977 D penny kept by my Grandma. It has a silver color, weighs 0.11 oz/3.2g and does stick to a strong magnet (but not a weak one). Could it be a bronze clad steel penny? penny3.thumb.jpg.c46cb319e1d693b94cfb84fd8eb71025.jpgpenny4.thumb.jpg.a45f852f18751a641f1a3b14df360964.jpg

Penny2.jpg

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    Welcome to the NGC chat board.

    What you have is almost certainly a normal 1977-D cent that was plated with a substance containing nickel or iron. I understand that such plating was frequently performed in high school chemistry labs years ago. I recall finding 1953 and 1974 cents that looked like this. 

   You should avoid touching the surface of any coin you think may be collectible, as the oils from your skin will degrade it.  If you must touch such a coin, hold between your fingers by its edges.

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But how is it magnetic? Pennies before 1992 were not magnetic. Before 1992 the pennies were made of copper and zinc, which both were non-magnetic. Clearly this has either steel, iron, nickel, or cobalt in order for it to magnetic. That's whats confusing. And if this was an experiment in 1977, how did they coat it with steel or nickel? Is that possible? Did they actual melt the metal to do this back then? Wouldn't that require a very high temperature to melt? and dangerous? And wouldn't some of the markings be less defined if it was coated? and wouldn't coating it effect the weight? The experiments I found was putting pennies in a solution zinc sulfate solution in order to make them silver. That wouldn't make it magnetic.

Edited by LAKoenke
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It is probably a copper cent plated with nickel, hence the attraction to a large magnet.  
If it was a steel coin, a small magnet would attract it plus it would weigh less.
Not unusual to see nickel plated coins. No value but keep it as it is from your grandmother.

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Very useful guys, thanks a lot for information! And congratz to you sir :) Are you struggling to type my research paper? Don't worry, I'm here to help. With years of experience in academic writing, I can quickly and accurately type your research paper, ensuring that it meets all the necessary requirements and standards.

Edited by adamscotthi
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