Can anyone explain this?

[creshka46]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I have had this coin sitting in the junk drawer in my basement and never knew what too make of it. I think I found it roll searching 4 or 5 years ago. Take a look at the pictures. It seems to be a zinc penny from which the copper plating has been removed. This is not unusual to me. I have found one or two in the past. What has me scratching my head is that it seems to be on a planchet that is not a standard penny size. You can see it's slightly larger than normal. So I'm thinking maybe a wide collar error, except that it's the whole image that is larger, not just the rim. So it seems that it must have been struck with a die that was sized slightly larger. But I can't imagine such an error. Maybe it's a Chinese forgery? Does anyone have a thought on this? Also, for what it's worth, it seems to have been damaged in that it is bent slightly concave.

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[coindood]

I only recently learned these are called "Texas" pennies. To get the copper plating off, coins are hammered between pieces of leather of other material that doesn't damage the coin surface but removes the plating. The result is a slightly bigger coin.

[TXSTARFIRE]

Thanks for the info. I recently found three of these in a bag of cents that I got from the bank. They are gray in color and the ones I found are not round but kind of oval shaped. They are larger in diameter than a normal cent.

[shinnosuke]

Did somebody say Texas?

[creshka46]

Thanks for the info! That answers my question. I was scratching my head trying to figure out what kind of process would enlarge the penny without damaging the image. Now I know.

[galenrog]

While I have never before heard the term “Texas Penny” the process has been around almost as likely long as the modern plated zinc penny.

Time for more coffee.

[cwgii]

Well...I have recovered coin from the campfire ,that fit your description.