Playing Games, or Authentic?? Weird!!

[EagleDown]

Maybe some one has seen something like this.

Every so often, I find that I'm collecting too many pennies in my pocket. So, I have a qt. size jar on my dresser. Periodically, I separate the pennies from my pocket change and dump them in this jar. Yesterday, I was looking through the pennies from my pocket and noticed that I had recieved several that were prior to 1983. I mentioned to my helper; "I need to separate the copper pennies from all of the clad pennies". He didn't have much to do, so he volunteered to separate them for me. A little later, he came into my office and asked me if I had seen "this penny".
I remembered seeing it about a year ago when I dropped it in the jar, but at the time I didn't pay much attention to it. "Shaggy" (my friend,) handed it to me and since I had been looking at pennies through my eye loupe and handling them, I immediately noticed that it was heavier than what I had been messing with. So, I weighed a couple of regular pennies, they were 2.5gr each. Then I weighed this weird one and it weighed 3.1gr. I held a regular one against it and found that the diameter seems the same, but when I looked at them on edge, it was obvious that the weird penny was thicker than the other.

Well, the pictures are here. I'd like to hear what you think. Incidently, granted, I only have a 5X eye loupe, but I can see no line around the edges where two planchets might have been pressed together. But, my eyes are not what they use to be.

 

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[Diver_Down]

Comparing Apples to Oranges. The 1987 is a zincoln. The 68 is bronze. It will weigh more than the zincoln.

 

[EagleDown]

Naw, more like an orange to a lemon.

Thanks, you're right about the weight. I really wasn't aware that not only were they making counterfit pennies, they aren't even keeping to the weights established by the monetary act. Incidently, I had never heard of a U.S. bronze penny, only copper ones, (other than 1943.)

The U.S. Monatary act states that; The cents of the United States will be of the purest copper available.

Oh well..........

 

[Diver_Down]

Bronze is an alloy composed primarily of copper. All our cents minted before 1981 (some in 1982) except for the steelies that you mentioned are minted on a bronze planchet. People refer to them as copper cents, but the fact is that there is a small amount of tin and zinc in the alloy up to the years of 1962. After which, the tin was replaced with zinc for the remaining years the bronze planchet was used.

 

[EagleDown]

Bronze is an alloy composed primarily of copper. All our cents minted before 1981 (some in 1982) except for the steelies that you mentioned are minted on a bronze planchet. People refer to them as copper cents, but the fact is that there is a small amount of tin and zinc in the alloy up to the years of 1962. After which, the tin was replaced with zinc for the remaining years the bronze planchet was used.

OK, so an old dog CAN learn something new (to him.)

Since I'm in a learning curve here, could you please clarify your statement above; "(some in 1982)" since, as you are aware, it is generally publicised that pennies were made of copper (bronze) through 1982. In 1983, the clad pennies were issued. I might be getting confused here.

Thanks!! E.D.

 

[DigginThePast]

From: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?flash=yes&action=fun_facts2

The Composition of the Cent

Following is a brief chronology of the metal composition of the cent coin (penny):

* The composition was pure copper from 1793 to 1837.
* From 1837 to 1857, the cent was made of bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc).
* From 1857, the cent was 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance.
* The cent was again bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc) from 1864 to 1962.
(Note: In 1943, the coin's composition was changed to zinc-coated steel. This change was only for the year 1943 and was due to the critical use of copper for the war effort. However, a limited number of copper pennies were minted that year. You can read more about the rare, collectible 1943 copper penny in "What's So Special about the 1943 Copper Penny.")
* In 1962, the cent's tin content, which was quite small, was removed. That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc.
* The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc). Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.

 

[Diver_Down]

Bronze is an alloy composed primarily of copper. All our cents minted before 1981 (some in 1982) except for the steelies that you mentioned are minted on a bronze planchet. People refer to them as copper cents, but the fact is that there is a small amount of tin and zinc in the alloy up to the years of 1962. After which, the tin was replaced with zinc for the remaining years the bronze planchet was used.

OK, so an old dog CAN learn something new (to him.)

Since I'm in a learning curve here, could you please clarify your statement above; "(some in 1982)" since, as you are aware, it is generally publicised that pennies were made of copper (bronze) through 1982. In 1983, the clad pennies were issued. I might be getting confused here.

Thanks!! E.D.

In 1982, they made the switch to the zincoln that we detest today. However, they didn't make that switch until October of that year. Most CRH'ers and those that hoard copper cents will only keep 1981 and earlier as there is no chance for error. However, people will toss a lot of copper by not considering the 1982 cent. It is simple to determine as you found out. The weights are different. Some experienced CRH'ers can tell just by the sight of the planchet. Besides the alloy change, there are also small date varieties to search for.

 

[EagleDown]

Thanks Diver_Down and DigginThePast for all of the information. Granted, I've never been much of a "coin collector", other than knowing that copper pennies are worth more as copper, than 1 cent. I did know that the US coinage (pennies) started out as pure copper. I would imagine that they used the excuse of the need of an alloy to reduce excessive wear.

I'm almost ashamed that for as much as I know about history and the Constitution, I was not aware that the Gov. had started "debasing" the value of the "Monies of the united states of America" as early as 1837. (Almost exactly 100 years before I was born!!) (Jan. 1937)

I guess the next step will be; replacing coinage with paper script.

 

[Diver_Down]

I guess the next step will be; replacing coinage with paper script.

They already tried that. Since you stated that you enjoy history, do a search for Fractional Currency. The people hated them and called them shinplasters.

 

[EagleDown]

I guess the next step will be; replacing coinage with paper script.

They already tried that. Since you stated that you enjoy history, do a search for Fractional Currency. The people hated them and called them shinplasters.

Thanks for reminding me. Actually I was aware of that. But, I'm afraid that the American public has been "dumbed down" so much, that if it's tried again, they will "go blindly into the dark" and accept it. I personally know 30+ year olds that have no idea that the 50 cent coin was a very common coin to be found in a person's pocket. And even some who have never even seen a 50 cent piece. Sad.

Now, we have pennies that do not corrode in the ground, they merely rot away.