Has Anyone Ever Seen a Wheat Cent Like This?

[Erik in NJ]

A Gilded 1909 Wheat Cent?

I dug a few wheats today as well and was checking the dates...I don't much care for anything past 1940. This one struck me as quite odd as in over 12 years of detecting I've never dug one with this sort of toning with remnants of mint lustre around the details. You can see how rough our northern NJ soil is on copper by the pitting so it wasn't a recent drop, but notice the mint luster that's left around parts of the coin. I have never seen this before on a dug coin. Any ideas?? It also appears that someone has defaced this coin by cutting small slits in it near the rim. Has anyone ever seen this sort of toning pattern? Thanks for any input.

 

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[kpratt]

Looks like its almost coated with gas? Wouldn't you say?

 

[smoldrn]

I'm pretty sure that that's the first year lincoln cent, good find.

 

[Erik in NJ]

It's been in a couple hot peroxide baths to remove the dirt. It's not covered with anything other than a bit of bees' wax to help retain moisture. The back is a uniform chocolate color. The coloring on the front is very strange and nothing like I have ever seen before.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I'm pretty sure that that's the first year lincoln cent, good find.

Yes it is. It's not a VDB .... but the fact that it's such an early cent makes it all the more strange...

 

[euler1977]

i found a 1909 not S not VDB doing CRH

 

[jeff of pa]

other then the scratch around the right side & not knowing what

a couple hot peroxide baths to remove the dirt.

and

a bit of bees' wax to help retain moisture.

does to an already environmentally damaged 103 year old coin,
I'd say looks pretty normal to me

Oh & congrats on the Nice old Find

 

[Joe Dirt]

Looks like it was heated up at some point, possibly was under an old camp fire at some time in the past?

 

[diggummup]

I think your reading into it too much.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I think your reading into it too much.

Reading into what? I didn't claim it was an outstanding find, I'd just never seen a dug wheat cent tone that way with what looks like clean copper around the details--and was wondering if anyone else had. The scan is misleading in that the greenish haze is not there--must be a reflection from being buffed with wax. Anyway, back to the "good" finds...

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Jeff--it was like that out of the ground, I just cleaned the dirt off it. That's why it caught my attention. Regards, Erik

other then the scratch around the right side & not knowing what

and

does to an already environmentally damaged 103 year old coin,
I'd say looks pretty normal to me

Oh & congrats on the Nice old Find

 

[diggummup]

Reading into what? I didn't claim it was an outstanding find, I'd just never seen a dug wheat cent tone that way with what looks like clean copper around the details--and was wondering if anyone else had. The scan is misleading in that the greenish haze is not there--must be a reflection from being buffed with wax. Anyway, back to the "good" finds...

Didn't say you were claiming it was an outstanding find. Just saying, it looks like a dug copper cent to me, nothing out of the ordinary. The pic is misleading, because it sure doesn't show any mint lustre or clean copper on it that I can see, that's all. Nothing derogatory implied or suggested.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Diggummup,

No problem...it must be the scan then, because in person the toning pattern is like nothing I have seen dug on an older copper cent and it stands out immediately. Do you see the light areas around all of the lettering and profile? That's relatively clean "untoned" copper (maybe "mint lustre" was a bad choice of words)...the rest of the coin is chocolate colored. At least in my soil, I have never seen a wheat cent come out of the ground like this...and as you can see the soil is harsh as the coin is pitted. I know it's basically an irrelevant find, I was just curious as to how this sort of toning is possible and whether anyone else has seen it before.

 

[jeff of pa]

only thing I can think, are you absolutely sure there was not another coin or other metal, under it
that was pressed against it for a hundred or so years ?

only other way I seen copper cents with mint color was out of thick grease like Mud.
Non of these were cleaned.
This is the way they popped out.

top right may bave been a double coin find

 

[Rigo]

Something must have been stuck on it which preserved the coins luster (maybe). The toning is a sign of some sort of gases and I'm actually very surprised at how much of the detail is still bold. It is a first year mintage but not an S VDB though

A great find! I wish I found something like that...lol

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Jeff, I am pretty sure that there was nothing else in the hole, I have seen that effect before on a dug cent...usually leads to a "clean" spot somewhere on the coin surrounded by green corrosion where the metals touched. With the cut marks around the perimeter it looks like someone was messing with the coin when it was relatively new...maybe it was coated with some substance like paint or grease on the "heads" side. Like I mentioned it catches the eye immediately in person. Guess we'll just have to chalk this one up to a bit of a mystery.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Update: In looking at this thing with a fresh set of eyes this evening through a 10X jeweler's loupe, I believe the highlighting that we're seeing around the lettering and profile is actually the remnants of one side of this coin being gilded--it's not clean copper like I thought it was. This is the gilt left on the coin after being in the ground for probably close to 103 years, like an old button. 1909 was the first year of minting of the Lincoln cent (too bad since the Indian Head cent was so beautiful!) so for some it may have been a sort of keepsake. I believe someone gilded this 1909! The back shows no traces of gilt. The only enigma is the several fine cuts around the coin near the rim at the 1, 4, 5, and 5:30 positions. If this coin could only talk...

 

[strateloss]

First year wheat, very cool! Do you think it may have been exposed to high heat at some point?

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi -- no the scan is deceptive.....I think it was gilded at some point. The highlites are what's left.....like on an old botton. A 1909 is 103 years old this year and the gilding is adhering to the lettering and the profile like one woukd expect. Interesting coin....

First year wheat, very cool! Do you think it may have been exposed to high heat at some point?

 

[diggummup]

I once found a couple gold plated pennies, set in a bezel, fashioned into a pair of earrings once. They were mixed in a large 100 pound lot of wheaties I purchased several months back. I'll try to get a pic up later after work. That's what you mean by gilded right? Plated or coated?