Not worth a yellow cent?

[Trebuchet]

I just got back from the Credit Union where I ran a bunch of change through the Coinstar machine. It rejected the penny in the picture. Ever seen one that color before? The picture is reasonably accurate, if I had to describe it I'd call it "brass".

Was it about 1974 when the value of copper began to exceed on cent? Was there some experiment where they tried brass ones?

I stuck the Canadian dimes (also rejected) in because they have three different portraits of the Queen. I didn't know they did that!

[Peter Wilson]

Last all-copper US pennies were 1981, IIRC.

Never heard of brass pennies.

[Trebuchet]

I did a little googling. There was a bit of a crisis regarding the price of copper in 1973, resulting in the US Mint experimenting with aluminum pennies as well as brass clad steel ones. They made 1.5 million aluminum ones but all were destroyed except a few which had been given to members of congress. It's apparently illegal to own one. Anyhow, there's a picture on line of one in the Smithsonian and it's aluminum colored, not brassy like mine.

The current zinc pennies did start in 1981 or 1982 as you say. But there were steel ones and "shell case brass" ones during World War II.

I don't think it's steel either, it's not magnetic. It almost certainly is of different density than the usual or it would have been taken by the machine.

[Peter Wilson]

It's probably counterfeit. Its amazing what those color-copiers can do these days ;)

[Trebuchet]

You're about the third person to say "counterfeit"! Doesn't sound like a very profitable line of work.

I remember reading, probably 45 or 50 years ago, of the Secret Service catching a guy who was couterfeiting nickels. They caught him because the Mint did something unusual with the mint mark one year and he didn't. Otherwise they were undetectable. The punch line was that the guy had kept meticulous records. His nickels were costing him six or seven cents each.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Tombac, maybe? Canada made nickels out of the stuff during the Second World War to reduce nickel usage. Looks about the same.

As for the portraits of the Queen, yes, we do change them over time. The newest one (left-most) is the first Canadian portrait - before then, all were identical to those on UK coins.

[Moose]

Yeah, we had the same portrait of HRM QEII (middle dime) on our coinage for a good long while. It was decided sometime around 1990 that the portrait needed updating (rightmost dime, with the crown) because, you know, QEII doesn't look the same now as she did in the 50s.

That portrait was used for a while, then it came out that HRM apparently didn't much care for that portrait. Sometime around 2000 it was switched again. (Leftmost dime.) It is (IMO) more flattering, and I'm sure QEII cares about my view on the subject, us being (*crosses fingers*) like that.

[Maksutov]

Wood is the way to go. (http://www.wooden-nickel.net/)

[Fazor]

I remember doing an experiment in science class where we basically electrocoted (i think?) or maybe oxodized...err..honestly I can't remember what we did, but we did something to coat a nickel. now, i'm sure it was using the properties of nickel, but perhaps this was something similar done with the copper? Or perhaps its just spraypaint :-P

[Fazor]

From what I've been able to find, there was a novelty company that would coat pennies gold and usually stamp some kind of symbol onto the penny. Is there anything different about it? I've read these range from just a couple of letters to having a state picture stamped on the back.
Here's the link (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Coin-Collecting-2297/1974-gold-penny.htm)

That would be my guess, even sans stamping. Sounds like they were fairly custom done and perhaps someone just wanted a gold colored penny.

[Christopher Ferro]

I used to have a dime that was colored like that penny, but I seem to have misplaced it.

CJSF

[Trebuchet]

I'd like to think that it's just a coating or plating except that it was rejected by the sorting/counting machine at least twice, indicating its weight is different. Also, it's tough to tell from the picture but the scratch on Mr. Lincoln's face actually looks like the color goes right in, not just on the surface.

Now I'm going to have to look up "tombac"!

[Fazor]

I'd like to think that it's just a coating or plating except that it was rejected by the sorting/counting machine at least twice, indicating its weight is different. Also, it's tough to tell from the picture but the scratch on Mr. Lincoln's face actually looks like the color goes right in, not just on the surface.

Now I'm going to have to look up "tombac"!

From what I gather, the sorting machines are pretty sensative to weight. Even just a coating might be enough to through it off. There's so many people here with so much experience in random stuff, perhaps someone's worked with these machines before?

Anyway, as for the scratch, I did notice that in the pictures. But there's no way to tell if the scratch was maybe there before it got coated in the first place. In fact, that site describes a stamping, then coating process for the novelty coins. Perhaps the scratch is actually a mar from the stamping prossess and was a reject penny? You could always try making a new scratch, although I'd make sure it's not something of value first :)

[Trebuchet]

Right. I actually thought about cutting it in half or something to see what the inside was like.

Perhaps I'll see if I can find someone with a sensitive scale here at work. Of course I'll have to find an older copper penny to compare it with, rather than a zinc one.

Hmm, there's a thought. Perhaps the machine is set for zinc and will discard all of the copper ones.

Finally, I'm a bit surprised no one has pointed out that there is (officially) no such thing as a "penny" in the US coinage. It's really a "cent".

[Christopher Ferro]

I don't know, Trebuchet... the short stack of pennies I have here all have noticible differences in thickness, and I suspect weight.

CJSF

[SeanF]

Finally, I'm a bit surprised no one has pointed out that there is (officially) no such thing as a "penny" in the US coinage. It's really a "cent".
Haven't we been over this before? :)

Even the US Mint (http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/index.cfm?action=fun_facts2b) calls it a penny.

ADDED: Always double-check your links, folks. I originally had that link going to the "Search Results" page on the US Mint's website for a search of "penny." But when I tested it, I found that the link went to a "No results found" page instead of the actual results. That wouldn't exactly have made my point. :) So I linked to the first result instead.

[jfribrg]

I remember doing an experiment in science class where we basically electrocoted (i think?) or maybe oxodized...err..honestly I can't remember what we did, but we did something to coat a nickel. now, i'm sure it was using the properties of nickel, but perhaps this was something similar done with the copper? Or perhaps its just spraypaint :-P

The term you are probably looking for is electroplating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplate).

[Fazor]

The term you are probably looking for is electroplating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplate).

It most certianly was. I've been rather uncordingated in the mental department today (just noticed that the wrong word, electrocoating, was also spelled wrong). I'm fairly certain that's not what we did however, because from what I understand of the process it's a little too dangerous for the basic highschool science class.

I think it was some kinda chemical reaction to tarnish (oxodize) the metal, backed by the dim recollection of turning them blackish rather than gold colored. Or was it gold rather than black? I don't know, my memory is like swiss cheese (full of holes). I think I'll return to my corner now...

[Peter Wilson]

Right. I actually thought about cutting it in half or something to see what the inside was like...A less drastic approach would be to use NASA's Remote Abrasion Tool (RAT) like the ones on the Mars rovers. It has a complete suite of analysis tools, and you could probably get an exact metalurgical make-up.

Of course, getting JPL to loan you their backup RAT for the sake of satisfying idle curiosity could be a tough sell....:think:

[Pinemarten]

I just got back from the Credit Union where I ran a bunch of change through the Coinstar machine. It rejected the penny in the picture. Ever seen one that color before? The picture is reasonably accurate, if I had to describe it I'd call it "brass".

Was it about 1974 when the value of copper began to exceed on cent? Was there some experiment where they tried brass ones?

I stuck the Canadian dimes (also rejected) in because they have three different portraits of the Queen. I didn't know they did that!

I would take it to at least two coin dealers. If they say 'it is worthless but they'll take it off your hands' don't trust them. They should have a scale as well.
To save a trip you could search 1974 cent on Ebay and see if there is a rare critter in that year.

[Christopher Ferro]

http://misterguch.brinkster.net/MLX040.pdf

http://www.sciteched.org/Class/images.htm

http://www.coinclub.com/wwwboard/messages/26521.html

Seems like it's been done for some time, based on the above links.

CJSF