mystery dime

[alaskanfever]

Ok i posted earlier and you guys had no advice really for me about this dime i found. well i finally received my jewelry scale in on Friday and decided i was going to weigh my mystery dime. well i first started out in grains to get a really accurate reading and i weighed a regular dime first it weighed in at 32 grains. i then weighed in my mystery dime in weighed in at 34 grains. then i weighed a silver dime which weighed in at 36 grains. the dime has what looks like a silver edge but it weighs to little to be silver and to much to be clad. if i remember right it is a 1974 dime do any of you guys have any idea what i found?

 

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[alaskanfever]

so far 104 lookers an no responses well if any of you have any ideas what it may be please feel free.

 

[JD-GA]

Id say you found a plated dime that has 2 grains more weight due to the plating on the dime. If it were silver it would weigh what a silver dime weighs unless it was pretty worn, which yours is not.

 

[Moneypenny]

I was going to suggest:

a worn out proof, proofs are thicker
a dime struck on the wrong planchet
or possibly just a regular clad dime where somebody painted the edge--did you weigh multiple clad dimes for comparison? they do vary somewhat depending on wear

But JD-GA's idea is probably more likely.

 

[byrne3]

your scale is seriously off. A clad dime should weigh 35 grains, and a silver dime should be 38.5 grains.. I weighed a few and they are all around that ballpark weight..

Aside from that, I would think someone just painted the edge for whatever reason..

 

[alaskanfever]

i will retry my scale again tonight but it does not look painted if anything i would believe maybe plated. is there any real good way to tell without damaging the coin?

 

[sitman]

Spectral analysis is the only non-destructive way to find out what is on the surface of the coin. Unfortunately, that requires a very specialized piece of equipment that is typically found in a materials laboratory. A density measurement would give you a rough feel as to whether the coin is mainly silver (90%) or copper (clad), but won't tell you what the surface material is.

 

[JD-GA]

The easiest thing to do if you want to be certain is to 'very gently' rub the edge on a testing stone and put a drop of silver test acid on the rubbing left on the stone. If it doesnt turn bright red its not silver and your question is answered regardless of which direction its answered in.

 

[jrf30]

A picture would make it a LOT easier to discuss.