Pennies... have you ever noticed......

[Groovedymond]

I have noticed for some time now, and I'm curious if any of you have as well.

Looking at my pocket change this morning (as I always do), I spotted several pennies that just jumped out at me. Upon closer examination, I saw they were 60's. I began to wonder.. why is it that the 60's pennies always seem... I don't know how to put it.. more defined!

If you look at a dirty 60's penny, it seems more noticeable. It seems as if Lincoln is raised more than all other pennies. Did they manufacture pennies differently in the 60's? The detail just seems to be more defined.. or deeper... or something!

What do you guys think?

 

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[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Nope nothing has changed in the dies or planchets for decades. I think you should stop doing Acid

Keep @ it and HH!!

 

[aa battery]

Everything was built better in the sixties

 

[Getty]

Its because in 1982 they changed the composition to copper plated zinc.Therefore the metal makes it look different than the full copper pennies.

 

[Groovedymond]

I agree that the Zinc pennies do certainly look nasty.. however... from what I have seen, the 60s always seem better than all other years... and that includes all wheaties, as well as the 70's to 82's.

 

[watercolor]

I've noticed that too. Real copper pennies have always seemed to have had a higher degree of relief or "roundness" in the Lincoln portrait, especially the ones in the 60's as you've mentioned.

watercolor

 

[fiatboy]

It's not just the copper vs. zinc composition. Althought I don't fully understand how it happens, I know that the master die is flattened and stretched after years of use, abuse, adding of dates and mintmarks, proof restrikes, etc. Every few decades or so, the mint redoes the original. Compare '90s half dollars to early '70s half dollars, and the change is especially noticeable. Again, I don't fully understand all the aspects of this phenomenon, but something of the sort happens. Can anyone elaborate?

 

[ivan salis]

maybe they used a "fresh" set of dies in the sixes---they do wear out after a period of time--maybe they did a mass replacement of dies at the time--fresh dies do strike better --the first coins off a fresh set of dies often look like proof coins that has been stated in coin collecter books--like the "red" book---just guessing of course.

 

[l.cutler]

Actually there have been many changes. The US hasn't really used copper cents since the large cent. The Lincoln cent was made from French Bronze from 1909 until early 1962, except for the WWII years. In 1962 the composition was changed to brass. In 1969 the portrait was changed, making it a little smaller and flatter.

 

[ivan salis]

hummm the switch to brass from "french bronze" in1962 and the 1969switch to a smaller flatter lincoln image---so 1962 to 1969 was the " high brass era"---- well folks I think we found our reason the 60's era coins seem better.---simply put they were---- brass is tougher --they would have to use more pressure to press them out --higher pressure equals crisper images and the "brass" pennies being tougher than " french bronze" pennies would wear less over time thus looking better.----- the "new" debased "zinc" pennies suck we all agree on that I'm sure---Ivan

 

[TreasureTales]

If I remember correctly, French bronze was impregnated with tiny white flags - could explain the difference in the relief - the white flags caused the relief to surrender almost immediately. hehehe

 

[GPURS]

Too funny treasuretales!!!!

 

[ivan salis]

ah the secert "french bronze" formula has been revealed!!! bad,bad,bad no french "whine" for you TT

 

[TreasureTales]

ah the secert "french bronze" formula has been revealed!!! bad,bad,bad no french "whine" for you TT

HAHAHA Ivan, I live in California - our wines are BETTER than many French wines - which the French often whine about.

 

[ivan salis]

drive american,drink american---just not at the same time--

 

[Cerulean]

Over the last 40 years, the Mint has been gradually reducing the amount of relief, the difference between high point and low point on a coin's design. This isn't just from the wearing out of dies; new dies are made that have slightly less relief than the previous ones. This is done purely for cost of production concerns. Lower relief coins can be struck just once, whereas higher relief coins need to be struck twice (hence all those double-die errors). By cutting in half the number of times a strike must be made, the Mint can avoid lots of wear on their machines and dies, and can make coins even faster.

Here's a good article on the subject:
http://www.stujoe.com/content/view/13/26/

 

[l.cutler]

Actually all US circulation coins have always been struck just once, except for some early trials and high relief pieces. Doubled die coins come from just that, a doubled die. Dies are struck more than once to bring up the details, if there is movement in between strikes the result is a doubled die. Coins struck from these doubled dies show the doubled details. The coins themselves are not struck twice. There are coins with strike doubling, this is caused by the die bouncing and causing a slightly doubled image. These are different from a doubled die coin, and don't carry any premium.

 

[jorge del norte]

wow all this is conflicting..........

 

[TreasureTales]

wow all this is conflicting..........

You got that right!

I thought only proof coins were struck twice - to ensure a good relief to the coin.

All I know is that the current cents (American 1/100 dollar coins are technically called "cents" whereas the British coins are called "pennies.") are pieces of crapola. They decay in the ground relatively quickly and then become absolutely useless. I think we should pool all of our rotten cents and mail them en mass to the mint and let them know we don't like the post-1982 cents one bit and here's our 2 cents worth (multiplied by 1,000).

 

[l.cutler]

You are right about only proof coins being struck more than once, circulation strikes just once. The high relief St. Gaudens gold pieces of 1907 also required multiple strikes.