Unplated/foreign planchet 1998 Lincoln?

[TheBigH]

Sorry for starting another thread, but this one has me interested.

I found this today in a CWI roll from the bank, and it looks like it might be plated post-mint, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something good before I chuck it in my interesting PMD tin.

The cent has a very small patch of copper color to the right of Lincoln. It's not on a raised area, so it's not wear. Either incomplete post-mint plating, or just partially plated during the minting process. The reverse looks the same as the obverse, and it's a little dirty. So, is this just re-plated, mercury coated, or an authentic error?

Thanks for any insight you can give me!

58

P.S., I got 2 boxes (100 rolls) of pennies from the bank, and I've found 5 wheats, 6 older Canadians, a really nice MS 1959 D,a nice AU or UNC 1961, and a really cool Australian 5 cent coin with a 'spiny anteater' on the reverse. Not to mention a U.S. dime. ;)

[diamond]

The color only looks a little off. Is this the actual color of the coin? It doesn't have the light gray coloration of a genuine unplated cent. How much does it weigh in grams?

[TheBigH]

The coin's color is slightly different in person, but not too much different. Also, I tried to weigh the coin, and my scale does weigh grams, but it doesn't weigh things that small, so the weight is impossible for me to determine. The edge is colored the same as the coin, but other than that, I can't give you any other information. This area of error coins is especially shady for me. I can't tell one slight shade of color from another, as with the 1999 SBA coins with the different metal composition. They look the same to me.

[TheBigH]

Actually, the coin is a bit lighter colored than the photo. The lighting here isn't quite good enough to show the actual color of the coin. I have the detail down pretty well, but I'm still a little off on the color.

[foundinrolls]

This is what an unplated Lincoln looks like so you can make a comparison.
http://www.foundinrolls.com/images/cu/87dnoplating.jpg

[TheBigH]

Thanks for the help, guys. Before I found mine, I had seen a few of these unplated cents before, but mine looked different. At first, I thought it could have been because it was circulated, and the ones I've seen never were. Now, however, I'm pretty sure it's been plated with something. Maybe mercury, or maybe something else. Either way, I don't believe it is any sort of mint error. I'll keep, just in case (and also as a good example of a post-mint alteration, if I am correct).

And by the way, I wanted to tell you guys that I will be posting another mystery error soon in this thread, so I don't create another topic and clog up the forum. The error in question is either post-mint damage caused by some sort of pliers, or perhaps a feeder finger strike-through error, but I probably have my head in the clouds a bit too much on that one.