Jeff12633 Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Hi, I just joined this forum. I'm not a real "collector" as I only collect to acquire representative designs and variations, not for value or scarcity. I ran across this ugly looking thing among my hoard of copper Lincoln cents. It's smaller than a normal cent--18.4 mm diameter compared to 19 normal. I don't have an accurate scale to weigh it, but I measure the thickness at 1.1 mm vs 1.4 for a normal cent. The surface finish and strike quality are very poor, and a portion of both sides are silver in color instead of copper. On the front there appears to be a defect across Lincoln's jacket and continuing up through his cheek--possibly a hair on the die or a die crack? On the back, the E appears almost completely missing from the motto, with weakness right above it in the word "States". I don't find anything like it in online descriptions of error coins. Could it just be a bad planchet or something else? It doesn't seem likely to me that anyone would counterfeit a penny of ordinary year and mint mark. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ2008 Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 thats almost definitely an forgery, most likely an cast. why though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff12633 Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 A casting is a good suggestion--the surface finish does look consistent with a casting. Maybe someone thought it would be cool to try to make a mold of a real penny, fire it, and then make castings. I'll check the edge of the coin to see if there's evidence of grinding or of an opening in a mold. I'll bet if you do it right, you could make counterfeit pennies for just pennies each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Looks more to me like it got a soak in something corrosive. That would account for the muddied detail, reduced diameter while retaining roundness, and so on. My bet would be a weak acid, likely vinegar or phosphoric acid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenstang Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 I agree with JKK Have seen this many times. Looks like it has been acid dipped. Usually the rims are the first to be attacked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
