My boyfriend and I were searching through some dime rolls and I found this dime that appears copper... How can I tell if this thing is a genuine error coin or what happened to it if not? Thanks for reading. -Britt
one of two things the clad nickel outer coating it not take properly at the mint --or-- acidic soil has leeched the copper inner core out staining the outer nickle coating --in effect plating the outside with the inner copper core metal...
Unfortunately it most likely is not an error, I get those types of dimes rather frequently in my boxes of dimes, I toss them back with the rest of the clad.
If a dime was struck on a 1 cent planchet than it would its characteristics
dime: reeded edge, 17.9 mm diameter, weight 2.3 grams
1 cent: smooth edge, 19 mm diameter, weight, 3.1 (Cu) or 2.5 gm (Zn)