Unplated Zinc Cent - 1990 D

[rbrown4]

I was wondering if anyone would have any input as to an item that is part of my father's coin collection that I am in the process of going through, cataloging and grading. There is a 1990 D Lincoln Cent that my father corresponded back and forth to Coin World in 1991 regarding the authenticity of this coin being an unplated zinc cent. The end result was that my father performed a "heat test" on the coin as suggested by Coin World and the result was no color change as a Mr. Ken Potter at that time had expected. It was recommended that the coin be sent to J.P. Martin at the ANA but my father never did. At that time they also indicated that there was no known record of a 1990 D unplated zinc cent. Any thoughts or recommendations on how I should proceed with this coin? We still have the letters of correspondence back and forth.

[rexcat]

Hi rbrown4,

 

I would send that coin to NGC for authenticity and grading which would remove any reservations you may have towards this coin being real, plus keep it safely protected in the slab, (unable to be exposed to any more “testing” ).

 

In the case you would want to sell this coin being graded by NGC or PCGS would also help you greatly in getting a fair market value of this kind of error.

 

Hope that when the heat test was preformed it didn’t cause any damage to the coin; I’m surprised some what that Coin World would suggest this kind of testing to a coin that could be a very rare error worth more money than I could guess.

[rbrown4]

Paul B.

 

Thank you for the reply. Here is the reverse pic.

 

Actually the folks at Coin World told my father that they could not perform the test on the coin, (he had actually sent them the coin). Therefore he decided to do it himself figuring that if it did not pass, he would know it was not actually an unplated zinc cent and if it did, well then. When he told them the results that is when they recommended he send it on to J.P Martin.

 

Thank you for the comments.

 

rbrown4

[robec1347]

I just recently got one back from NGC. As Paul said, send it in to NGC (or even PCGS). If not for the grade, do it for the authentication

 

It's funny, on my slab they even list the weight of the coin. So that must, somehow, be a clue. But I don't see the weight listed on any other slabbed coins. Check to see if yours is 2.4 grams. It's not quite the heat test, but probably safer.

 

Here is a picture of mine.

 

[robec1347]

I didn't see that you had added an attachment until I posted mine.

 

Yours looks to be a very nice high grade.