Are u.s coins made of junk metal now?

[Treasureman25]

Every spring a friend an I go to spots where local towns dump all their snow from local parking lots an roads .. we hit big on clad.. it’s fun.. any way.. seems to me that the coins minted in the last 10 years minimum are usually half rotted away by the time we find them.. so are they minting with garbage metal or are the towns using a more powerful chemical in their deicer for the roads? You northern folks notice the same thing?

 

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[xr7ator]

Just the pennies made from 1983 to present.

 

[galenrog]

All chemicals used for ice and snow control, to include common road salt, are very corrosive to coins. Particularly so to cents and dollar coins. Less so for other US coins due to nickel content, but still corrosive.

Have fun with that.

Time for more coffee.

 

[IDXMonster]

I’ve noticed coins I occasionally find in parking lots are ROASTED! I do think more powerful chemicals are the cause, cuz there is no other explanation. You already know how zinc looks out of the dirt if it’s been chemically chewed on. Not good...
Where in WI are you? Haven’t seen your handle before...

 

[Treasureman25]

ROASTED! Haha got that right! Flipping junk

 

[Rookster]

Coinstar won't take some of it now days.

 

[ticndig]

the damage starts with abrasion , lots of sand grit used in snow removal . once the thin outer layer is scratched the salt takes it's toll . now the new pennies , they rot regardless if in contact with soil for very long.

 

[Poor old tom]

I have found 3 Sacajewea gold dollars at the local fair grounds. Not a speck of Gold in them. One is very corroded. Owell one more and I can have a hamburger.

 

[Tpmetal]

Thanks to my grandfather's research team at dupont....we have been making coins out of crap for a long time. Though it was really cool how they made the layered metal that got rolled into sheets before they were cut into blanks
Basically painted big thick seets of metal with plastic explosives and took them into an old mine and stack the explosive painted one on top of the other two layers and blew that sucker up. The force of the explosion basically welds the metal together.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Short answer is yes, they make current coins out of garbage metals. Pennies from 1983 to date are the worst for corrosion and damage.

 

[SD51]

And to top it off, it costs more than a penny to make a penny and same for nickels. We make a profit on the dimes and quarters though...

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The cents seem to be made out of a form of dried tofu.

 

[RTR]

Found one of these >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)#/media/File:US_Nickel_2013_Obv.png and it looked like it was a thousand years old.

 

[ecmo]

Calcium chloride, salt,sand,cinders plus getting scootched around by tires on the pavement, it's a rough world for coins these days..

 

[fistfulladirt]

It’s the one cent coins minted from mid 1982 to present. Zinc.

 

[Dave Rishar]

They don't salt around here and the zincolns still look like hell when they come out of the ground. Of course, the old coins don't look great either. Even the nickels (which as CuNi ought to last basically forever) generally turn red and grungy if they've been there for any length of time. Between the nasty soil and the constant rain, life sucks for coins in the ground in this part of the world. I don't think that it's a problem with the coins though.

My solution is to start minting coins from whatever alloy they make beverage cans out of. Regardless of the age, pull tabs generally come out looking perfect.