Perplexed!!! 1 1

[pancakez1981]

Can someone explain why I have a 1953 D wheat penny that is smaller than a standard wheat penny of the same year and why MY wheat penny weighs 2.06g

 

 

This 1952 D weighs in at the right weight for a wheat era penny. 

[Greenstang]

I have asked a moderator to move this to the proper Forum.

As far as your Wheat cent goes, could you supply a complete photo of the Obverse and Reverse. Hard to tell when only a partial photo is supplied but my guess right now is that it may be acid etched which would reduce the weight. Complete photos would help in determining the cause.

[Conder101]

From the one image that shows it appears to be seriously altered.

[DWLange]

It's severely reduced in mass by chemical interaction of some sort. It may have been found in the ground and then harshly cleaned, but it certainly didn't leave the mint looking like that.

[Henri Charriere]

The "right" weight -- despite possible acid etching, serious alteration, and a harsh cleaning!  What an I missing here?  Maybe it's also had a hip replacement, too.  It's almost as old as I am.

Tip from a rank amateur: Me.  The older a coin gets, the more difficult diagnosing its symptoms becomes. Elsewhere on this site I made mention of all the one-cent pieces littering NYC streets paved with asphalt.  I defy anyone to correctly diagnose an "assault by asphalt-embedded coins." And one more thing... there has to be a cut-off date for coins damaged by environmental forces or chemical agents.  It may be interesting, but it's irrelevant. Many such coins are essentially worthless.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Quintus Arrius

[rocket23]

On 3/6/2021 at 6:48 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

The "right" weight -- despite possible acid etching, serious alteration, and a harsh cleaning!  What an I missing here?  Maybe it's also had a hip replacement, too.  It's almost as old as I am.

Tip from a rank amateur: Me.  The older a coin gets, the more difficult diagnosing its symptoms becomes. Elsewhere on this site I made mention of all the one-cent pieces littering NYC streets paved with asphalt.  I defy anyone to correctly diagnose an "assault by asphalt-embedded coins." And one more thing... there has to be a cut-off date for coins damaged by environmental forces or chemical agents.  It may be interesting, but it's irrelevant. Many such coins are essentially worthless.

essentially to a numismatist.......but to a scrap dealer (and enough of coins) it's a gold mine.......I see a lot of morgans and even ase's as melt point pricing even thou the wear is evident, for some reason pennies get hit harder than other coins at least more often.