Zink pennies right out of the Ground like new?

[Ammoman]

99 percent of the time my Zink pennies look like total crap and are not worth the dig. The picture below shows a couple cool looking ones after tumbling. Still, every now and then i dig a Zink penny that has obviously been in the ground a while by its depth...typically 3 or four inches. Funny thing is, the penny is as shiny and new as the day it was dropped. No tarnish, just sparkly new looking right out of the ground. I have dug about 10 of them so far and i am perplexed. My son has dug a few as well.
Have any of you done the same thing? Should i keep these pennies? What makes them not tarnish and corrode like the rest?

 

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[Loco-Digger]

The pristine ones may ave been coated with oil from dirty hands or such.

 

[SD51]

Looks like the mint is making half-cents again!

 

[SD51]

Too bad it probably costs more than $.25 to make a penny now!

 

[Ammoman]

The pristine ones may ave been coated with oil from dirty hands or such.

I was thinking something like that but i can't imagine anyone having that much oil on their hands. Do you think, much like error coins, their may be more of an outer coating put on some of these from the mint? If a coating is put on them at all of course. I don't know the process of coin minting so i am only taking a guess.

 

[Ammoman]

Looks like the mint is making half-cents again!

LOL yes and custom half cents at that.

 

[jeff of pa]

99 percent of the time my Zink pennies look like total crap and are not worth the dig. The picture below shows a couple cool looking ones after tumbling. Still, every now and then i dig a Zink penny that has obviously been in the ground a while by its depth...typically 3 or four inches. Funny thing is, the penny is as shiny and new as the day it was dropped. No tarnish, just sparkly new looking right out of the ground. I have dug about 10 of them so far and i am perplexed. My son has dug a few as well.
Have any of you done the same thing? Should i keep these pennies? What makes them not tarnish and corrode like the rest?

View attachment 1369869

only time I dug new looking Pennies was Wheats from the teens that were in
oxygen free mud for
80 years or so.

occasionally I dig new looking zinks , but my guess has always been fresh drops
that shifted deeper during the digging process

 

[Deft Tones]

Soil aeration. The spikes that pull the plugs are 4-5 inches long. Have dug recent drops hit by an aeration crew that were pushed down. It's done twice a year around here in the more heavily used parks.

As a side note, I recently scanned a few gold coins from a mint set. One coin was about the size of a nickle (forgot the denomination) and on my V3i it hit exactly like a zinc penny. Almost couldn't believe it. I never pass them until I get tired, but now I'll never pass them even when I get tired.

 

[luvsdux]

I find them now and then and have always thought they were recent drops that hadn't had time to react to fertilizers or other soil chemicals.
luvsdux

 

[Ammoman]

Soil aeration. The spikes that pull the plugs are 4-5 inches long. Have dug recent drops hit by an aeration crew that were pushed down. It's done twice a year around here in the more heavily used parks.

As a side note, I recently scanned a few gold coins from a mint set. One coin was about the size of a nickle (forgot the denomination) and on my V3i it hit exactly like a zinc penny. Almost couldn't believe it. I never pass them until I get tired, but now I'll never pass them even when I get tired.

I believe that is very possible but, I have never found a clad dime, nickel or quarter that deep without oxidation and color change. Only Zink pennys.

 

[relic nut]

The sad thing is, 20 years from now detectorest won't have anything to find. Just another example of American quality down the tubes.

HH RN

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Surprise! That is the nature of those newer coins, the zinc reacts to most soils, and falls apart, delaminates - destroys itself...!
My bank just told me to put them in rolls, and turn them in for coinage that hasn't BLOWN UP...!
I rolled-up $7 - worth of pennies yesterday, so I had a load to those critters to get rid of...!
I would like to be a fly on the wall, and see the reaction of the person that gets those rolls....!

 

[nsdq]

I have a coffe can full most fresh from the bank since 92 plastic of course should i bury it and wait to see if found 40 years from now?

 

[Ammoman]

The sad thing is, 20 years from now detectorest won't have anything to find. Just another example of American quality down the tubes.

HH RN

Still, some of these pennies are surviving in pristine condition. Not sure how or why or for how long.

 

[Deft Tones]

Well, the only other observation I have is that if the copper jacket is not compromised (scratch, pin hole, etc.), they seem to hold up well for longer than usual.

I seem to find the zinc shield pennies in very shiny condition at depth. Those specific pennies seem to fare better longer... that's how it seems.

Soil salinity, PH, fertilizers, etc. are in play too, but compromise the copper on a zinc penny and it's cooked in short order.

 

[enamel7]

Too bad it probably costs more than $.25 to make a penny now!

No they don't. Maybe two cent at most.