CRH find, help identify?

DanFromOhio

Tenderfoot
Jan 9, 2019
9
25
Buckeye State
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello All, first post ever. I am fairly green, but have done some CRH in the past. Recently started again, picked up a penny box yesterday, and found this 1976 silver colored cent. I can't decide whether its an error, cleaned, or fake, or what....can a copper be cleaned until it's "white" ?

I am hoping it's a dime planchet error, but :dontknow:

What's the thoughts from experts on here?

20190109_195917.jpg
20190109_195921.jpg
20190109_195930.jpg
20190109_195938.jpg
20190109_195951.jpg
20190109_200002.jpg
 

Upvote 0

Icewing

Silver Member
Jan 5, 2016
2,629
5,489
NW Arcanslaw / SW Misery
Detector(s) used
Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold / Garrett PropointerAT.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It looks to have been zinc plated.
Possibly a high school chemistry class project.

I remember having made some change colors like this
and dropping newer zinc pennies in hydrochloric acid, which caused the zinc to dissolve leaving only the copper foil exterior.
 

Last edited:

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,384
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It's definitely been plated after it left the mint. Technically it's damaged.
 

Dozer D

Silver Member
Feb 12, 2012
3,358
3,081
Primary Interest:
Other
If you think it's on a dime planchette, then weigh it on a x.xxg scale to answer that part of the question.
 

Diggin-N-Dumps

Gold Member
Sep 9, 2009
6,046
3,781
Fort Worth,Texas
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 / AT PRO / Etrac w/ NEL
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Zinc Plated. I have several Wheat pennies like this. They appear to be the exact same size.
 

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,682
40,650
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Welcome. I agree on zinc plating. It is too big for a dime planchet and the color is wrong for that. Keep looking, there are goodies out there still. I got a 1995 double, or is that doubled, I always forget, Lincoln that I had graded and it graded MS-67 in a roll somebody dumped at a local bank. That was 2 years ago. Still have it.
 

LooseChange

Hero Member
Sep 28, 2012
739
564
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi Dan.

As others have said, Zinc coated cents are fairly common finds. Keep plowing through rolls and boxes, and you'll find some cool stuff.

Good photos btw.
 

Dozer D

Silver Member
Feb 12, 2012
3,358
3,081
Primary Interest:
Other
Was going thru a bag of cents from a branch bank last night, good number of wheats (about 12, only half finished) and pulled a 1919P & 1929P, both worn & readable, and yet still old finds. Cents can always be fun to hunt.
 

Rookster

Gold Member
Nov 24, 2013
29,382
111,597
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, F75Ltd., AT PRO, Garrett pointer
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
Welcome to Tnet from Mississippi.
 

OP
OP
D

DanFromOhio

Tenderfoot
Jan 9, 2019
9
25
Buckeye State
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks all. Yes, after weighing and further inspection I think it's just a plated coin. Thanks for the input.
I am working on filling a Dansco 7100 1909-2009 Lincoln Cents album, roughly 70% complete. Likely to have to purchase the keys, but hoping to come across semi-keys in the wild, who knows, maybe just wishful thinking.
Enjoying the hunts, and have my 13YO son interested as well, which is probably the most important part....he actually found a decent condition 1906 IHP in a CRH so we've had some luck 8-)
Cheers
Dan
 

Dozer D

Silver Member
Feb 12, 2012
3,358
3,081
Primary Interest:
Other
DanFO: keep your son interested in CRH & coin collecting, and away from the TV & video games. All my 5-kids grew up overnight and didn't even know that I had a very large coin collection that my dad & I started in the mid-60's. I just wish to this day that I would have involved them into coins, rather than me working all the time, with one full time and three var part time jobs just to keep dinner on the table & gas in the tank. I find CRH & coin collecting as a great hobby to learn history from a different angle. Now to try to instill the hobby into any one of my 13-grand kids, starting with pennies (which are always fun, never know what you might get). Once again, welcome to the TN.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top