Strange IH Penny

[m14nm]

I carry a small pill bottle with a little olive oil in it, to drop any Indian Heads in, until I get time to clean them up. This one is as red as modern clads or V-nickels that have been in the ground too long. Just thought it was a little strange looking compared to all the others I have found. Its the same diameter as the other IH's, about 19.1mm, but the thickness is a lot more at 1.96(.077'') compared to 1.38mm(.052''). Its the same thickness as the 1993 Jefferson nickel I compared it to. Using a tooth brush to remove the oily crud off, this is what I found.
Sorry, I can't read the date.

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Other ones That I went a little to far cleaning were bronze. I have a 1907 that looks like copper on the edge where the ''green'' fell off. Wrong color and thickness, what do you think?

Thanks
Cliff.

[72cheyenne]

Its a Copper/Nickel "fatty" made between 1860-1864. They were thicker that the later IHs.

Looking closer, it looks to have a date of 1862.

If it didn't have the shield at the top of the wreath on the reverse it would be an 1859. That was the only year without the shield.

1860-1864
Diameter: 19 millimeters

Metal content:
Copper - 88%
Nickel - 12%

Weight: 72 grains (4.67 grams)



1864-1909
Diameter: 19 millimeters

Metal content:
Copper - 95%
Tin and Zinc - 5%

Weight: 3.11 grams

[m14nm]

Wow 72cheyenne, that was fast. Thank you. Been looking at that thing for a week now and finally decided to ask.

Again, Thank You.

[jerseyben]

Great ID and I second that date: 1862.

[stefen]

Great question...there's a lot to learn about IH's anf Flying Eagles, however not a valuable coin based on condition...

Suspect it won't clean up...lots of corrosive damage.

[72cheyenne]

Great question...there's a lot to learn about IH's anf Flying Eagles, however not a valuable coin based on condition...

Suspect it won't clean up...lots of corrosive damage.

It does look to have some corrosion, but some of that looks like caked on gunk. Maybe a hot peroxide bath would boil some of that off and bring out more detail. It might be worth it to give it a shot, slowly at first to assure it's not doing more damage. The coin looks like it would have a lot of detail if the gunk would come off of it.

[AGBlex]

aka. the fatty.
Nice IHC man!

[pwcguy]

Be carefull cleaning that. Any coin with nickle in it dosn't hold up very well in the ground. I found some nice looking coins like your indian head but when I started cleaning them they just kept getting worse and worse the more I cleaned.