what is this? It isnt a penny

This forum is for the discussion of USA coin and paper money collecting that is unrelated to saving bulk Copper Bullion Penny, Nickel & CuNi Bullion Nickel, or Silver Coins for metal content. Feel free to post scheduled coins shows.

what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby rainsonme » Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:32 pm

I found a 1981-D Lincoln memorial coin, but it isn't a penny. It is copper, or looks copper. It is the exact diameter of a dime, but much thinner. It weighs 1.6 grams. I can clearly read the data and the legends. The thickness appears to be less than 1/3 of a dime. If a penny had been ground down, there would not be readable date and legends. And if it had weathered naturally, I doubt that all the lettering would be of equal legibility, front and back. What could this be? It is too thin for a dime planchet, and it appears to be copper.
Attachments
front view of thin coin.jpeg
front view of thin coin.jpeg (178.18 KiB) Viewed 1429 times
thin coin.jpeg
thin coin.jpeg (402.07 KiB) Viewed 1429 times
rainsonme
Penny Hoarding Member
 
Posts: 576
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:00 am
Location: Portland Or

Re: what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby rainsonme » Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:43 pm

and the reverse. All the legends and lettering are clearly legible, although the strike is faint. The reverse seems to be uniformly thinner around the edge, sloping, while the front side is flat. even though the reverse side "slopes" or is slightly beveled around the edge, the United States and One Cent are imprinted about evenly, and extend to the edge of the coin. A fellow at a coin shop said it might be the middle of a dime planchet that somehow split from the sandwich, and then found its way onto a penny press. But it is the exact diameter of a dime, and the strike is perfectly centered on the coin. But the legends go to the very edge of the coin.
Attachments
back side of thin coin.jpeg
back side of thin coin.jpeg (313.81 KiB) Viewed 1426 times
rainsonme
Penny Hoarding Member
 
Posts: 576
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:00 am
Location: Portland Or

Re: what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby beauanderos » Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:08 pm

probably half of a magician's coin. I found one once that was a dime on one side, a penny on the other. They hollow out the back side of a dime and insert a shaved down penny. This could be the penny insert without the dime
half?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Mercury-Dime-Wheat-Penny-2-Sided-Magicians-Silver-Copper-Coin-/321684042348?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae5dcf26c
The Hand of God moves WorldsImage
User avatar
beauanderos
Too Busy Posting to Hoard Anything Else
 
Posts: 9827
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:00 am

Re: what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby rainsonme » Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:18 pm

Well, its is stamped on both sides; the Lincoln memorial is on the reverse, you can almost make out Lincoln inside the memorial. And on the front side the date, Abe, and legends are very readable. The magicians' coin you show, I presume would have been ground down on one side, to fit with a thinned Merc dime on the other side. This coin is stamped on both sides. But it is too thin for a dime. I have seen quite a few half-dollar magician coins, so I know how good they can be. This doesn't look like one of those.
rainsonme
Penny Hoarding Member
 
Posts: 576
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:00 am
Location: Portland Or

Re: what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby rainsonme » Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:30 pm

According to this thread, its a penny soaked in acid, then ground down to the diameter of a dime.

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topi ... C_ID=43086

The most simple solution is usually the correct one. Oswald was the lone gunman. Acid bath produced my thin thin penny.

Sorry to have bothered this good board with my acid bath coin.


(note: whoever did this probably spent $2 for the acid bath to save 9 cents in a parking meter)
rainsonme
Penny Hoarding Member
 
Posts: 576
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:00 am
Location: Portland Or

Re: what is this? It isnt a penny

Postby JadeDragon » Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:32 pm

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw.
User avatar
JadeDragon
Realcent Moderator
 
Posts: 5434
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 3:00 pm
Location: Canada


Return to USA Numismatics

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests