Weird Cent- HELP! What Do I Have Here?

[ClonedSIM]

Okay, so I picked this coin out of my pocket change several months ago. I've looked at it, dropped it on my desk for tone, washed if off and compared it to other coins, and I still have no clue what is up with this weird one-center.

At first glance I thought it was an unplated planchet, but the size is what's throwing me off completely. I've found unplated planchets before but they were, if anything, a tiny bit smaller than a plated cent. This coin is much larger, but it doesn't appear to have been flattened by anything. None of the coin's devices or details are out of focus or stretched in any way, there isn't any doubling to the letters that I can make out, the coin has a very hollow and deep sound when dropped on wood, very unlike that of a plated cent, and the whole coin looks like it's been pushed out from the back, making the reverse deeper and with higher rims that the obverse of the coin.

My thoughts have been that this might be a strike on a foreign planchet, as the cent isn't large or heavy enough to have been struck on a nickel planchet, but I haven't gotten beyond that.

Does anyone have any ideas at all? I'm at a total loss at this point, so any help at all is appreciated! Thanks for looking!

 

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[ClonedSIM]

One additional thing I should add, though it's pretty apparent from the photos. The details on the coin are all to scale, the distances between letters, dates, numbers, etc. are all right on. But, if you look closely, you'll see that not only is the coin larger and heavier than normal, but every detail on the coin is larger than the control cent next to it.

 

[ClonedSIM]

Here are a couple of other shots for comparison, including one that shows the size difference between a normal cent, this odd one, and a standard nickel.

 

[l.cutler]

How much more than a normal cent does it weigh? It looks like a normal coin that has been in a fire, but if that is the case it shouldn't be heavier.

 

[NHDUG]

Have you heard the story of a paperboy that dropped some change from collecting on his route. One of the nickles fell apart in 2 pieces. There was a small piece of film in it. What he had was a nickle that was used in the cold war days for spy's to hide micro film and pass it along to other spy's. Do you see a seam or can you tell if it will unscrew? Just a thought.

 

[jewelerguy]

it looks to me like it may have slight heat damage. nothing major or else the plating would be blistered. looks like maybe low constant heat like from being dropped in a floor furnace

 

[ClonedSIM]

it looks to me like it may have slight heat damage. nothing major or else the plating would be blistered. looks like maybe low constant heat like from being dropped in a floor furnace

I'm sorry, i should have mentioned that there is absolutely no copper plating on the coin at all, what you're seeing is the zinc core. I first thought that it was someone's science experiment to remove the plating, but why would this cause the coin to expand than an ordinary cent without destroying, or at least malforming, the details of the coin?

 

[ClonedSIM]

Have you heard the story of a paperboy that dropped some change from collecting on his route. One of the nickles fell apart in 2 pieces. There was a small piece of film in it. What he had was a nickle that was used in the cold war days for spy's to hide micro film and pass it along to other spy's. Do you see a seam or can you tell if it will unscrew? Just a thought.

\

No seam that I can find, but I did think about this. I wasn't sure if this particular coin, as odd looking as it is, would be the best thing to use as a hideout. Seems like it may be too perceptible.

 

[ClonedSIM]

How much more than a normal cent does it weigh? It looks like a normal coin that has been in a fire, but if that is the case it shouldn't be heavier.

As soon as I find a scale sensitive enough, I'll let you know.

 

[l.cutler]

Unless it is heavier than a normal cent it has certainly been subjected to heat, this is exactly what they look like, the zinc core begins to spread out as it reaches the melting point.

 

[ClonedSIM]

Unless it is heavier than a normal cent it has certainly been subjected to heat, this is exactly what they look like, the zinc core begins to spread out as it reaches the melting point.

Wouldn't the heat have distorted the images on the coin?

 

[l.cutler]

No, no distortion, that is how they look if the heat is just enough for the coin to just start to spread out and not really melt.

 

[ClonedSIM]

No, no distortion, that is how they look if the heat is just enough for the coin to just start to spread out and not really melt.

Okay, I gotcha! Let me track down a scale that can measure weight really finely and I'll get back to you.

 

[bigchuck52]

Probably just a bad blank from the mint

 

[Davo]

Many years ago I had a magic trick consisting of a small block containing a magnet, and a hollow penny similar to this. A dime was hidden inside the 'penny', placed on a table or hand, and covered with the magnet. When the block was removed after magic words, the penny had turned into a dime. My penny had no reverse, though; there's no use for it.

Is this magnetic, and will a dime fit into the recess?

 

[ajaj]

I have the same penny! I posted on a coin forum and here's the potential answer:

Some (idiot) has pounded it. Check the rim; does it look like its been compressed?

 

[ClonedSIM]

I have the same penny! I posted on a coin forum and here's the potential answer:

Some (idiot) has pounded it. Check the rim; does it look like its been compressed?

The rim on the lower left quarter, when looking at the obverse, is nearly twice as thick as the rim around the rest of the coin, but the raised rim around the entire coin is very comperable to an unmolested cent. The front and back have the raised rim like a normal cent, and there's no damage or deformation to the details on the coin as the numbers, letters and designs are all still spaced properly and aren't running or "smeared," just the overall size and the lack of plating is different.

I've seen and handled cents without plating, those that have been pressed by machines and trains, coins that have been burned, heated, melted, caught in a dryer, dipped, cleaned, clipped etc, it just doesn't look like any of those. It really does appear there's just more zinc on one side of the cent than on the other.

Is it possible the coin was from the edge of a sheet the Mint was using and this casused the deformity, and then it also somehow missed the plating as well?

 

[sagittarius98]

Is it possible the coin was from the edge of a sheet the Mint was using and this casused the deformity, and then it also somehow missed the plating as well?

Doubtful, it would have the plating even if it was on the edge.

 

[sagittarius98]

You can get this scale:

Amazon.com: Jennings JScale HP-100X Gram Precision Digital Pocket Scale 100g x 0.01g with 100 Gram Calibration Weight: Office Products

Works great for me.