Not A Penny Guy - But What Is Wrong With This Picture

[Mark Gibson - Gemguy2u]

Guide me on this please. I have attached 2 photos of a 2002 MS69 Rd Lincoln but am clueless as to what the bumps are all over the front and back. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I am not much a penny guy...... Thanks, Mark

[Coinbuf]

Nothing new this has been an issue since 1982 when the mint switched to zinc core. What happens is that air gets trapped between the copper clad layer and the zinc core the air doesn't alow for a good bond and expands after striking to create this bubbled look.

[Mark Gibson - Gemguy2u]

Thanks For The Quick Reply. To Go A Step Further, Would This Condition Change The Value of The Coin Any ?

[SKAGS]

I would say the bubbles limit the market as I personally avoid all pennies with bubbles. I much prefer clean surfaces with no blemishes at all. I like varieties and passed on many 1998 double die pennies graded MS68 with bubbles before I found one with no bubbles.

[asdfgh]

Same for Me. I send in some pennies to be graded and avoid any with bubbles. They are fairly common and sometimes entire rolls have them.

[cpm9ball]

Thanks For The Quick Reply. To Go A Step Further, Would This Condition Change The Value of The Coin Any ?

 

Unfortunately, the US doesn't issue half cents any more, so the answer would be, "No!"

 

Chris

[Coinbuf]

Thanks For The Quick Reply. To Go A Step Further, Would This Condition Change The Value of The Coin Any ?

 

Yes it does affect the value but also the ability to resell down the road. Some collectors are willing to accept that this condition and will buy coins like this, (although often at a discount) and as you can see from the replies others avoid them. This condition is one of the reasons I stay away from modern Lincolns, and when I bought the few that I do own I only considered coins without the bubbles.

[PennyGuy]

And I missed this?

[BillJones]

In reading over the responses, it seems like his question about the bubbles has not been answered.

 

Some people think that cents are made of copper, but since 1982 the cent has been made of zinc with a thin copper coating. In some cases the application of the copper coating results in the bubbles that you see here. This is a mint defect, which in this case has a negative effect on the value in my opinion and in high grade pieces the numerical condition grade. A piece with this bubbles cannot grade MS or PR-70 no matter how perfect it is otherwise. It's like a perfectly preserved coin that has been weakly struck. When you get to the very high grades, the quality of manufacture does matter.

 

Years ago I passed on a 1983 doubled reverse die cent because it had a hole in the copper plating which large enough to show the zinc that was under it. With the air rushing in to corrode the chemically reactive zinc, I could see that coin turning to dust in a couple of decades, no matter how well you tried to preserve the piece.

 

[coinman_23885]

Guide me on this please. I have attached 2 photos of a 2002 MS69 Rd Lincoln but am clueless as to what the bumps are all over the front and back. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I am not much a penny guy...... Thanks, Mark

 

The coin is no longer MS69 RD.

[coinman_23885]

This raises an interesting question: Are all of the zinc Lincolns subject to this bubbling phenomenon? Are all of the high grade condition rarities ticking time bombs?

[BillJones]

This raises an interesting question: Are all of the zinc Lincolns subject to this bubbling phenomenon? Are all of the high grade condition rarities ticking time bombs?

 

I don't think that they all are but certainly some are.

 

My guess is that there is trapped air under the coating. According to Boyle's Law, gases expand when they are heated. Therefore this might the result of a temperature change that pushed the think copper coating up.

 

Alternatively it could be a factor of the zinc oxidizing under the copper. If that is a cause, then, yes, all modern cents could pose of risk of this problem. I'm not chemist, so I'm just speculating here.

 

Red copper coins are always have the risk of changing color. The modern cent has the added risk of zinc, which is a very reactive metal, that is really not suitable for coinage. The reason why some people say that all of the 1943 wartime cents will eventually go bad is because they a coated in zinc over steel.