Tweet
Apologies if this isn't an error/is something minor, but I have a 1976 Lincoln cent that weighs 2.93 grams, and from what I know is outside of the mint tolerances.
The coin has definitely been circulated but the surfaces are still smooth to the touch and I don’t see a ton of signs of pitting (although I am not super experienced with spotting this). The penny is so average I honestly didn’t even expect anything to be off before weighing it.
It has a diameter of about 19.00 mm and a thickness in the 1.45 range (measured using calipers accurate to 0.01 mm).
The main thing that is throwing me off is I keep getting a specific gravity of about 9.05-9.15 (measured using a scale with 0.001 grams of accuracy). I’m not 100% confident in my ability to perfectly perform this test, but I have performed this test a few times on this coin and gotten similar results.
The other thing I’ve noticed about the coin is that certain parts seem to have surface level silver metal/a non-copper look to them (like the date). Could this just be something like lighting, toning, or by-products from environmental damage?
With all of that being said, I am still learning and I am not sure if the reduced weight is just from environmental damage or if this coin could have some sort of planchet error.
I have attached photos below, any thoughts anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!
The coin has definitely been circulated but the surfaces are still smooth to the touch and I don’t see a ton of signs of pitting (although I am not super experienced with spotting this). The penny is so average I honestly didn’t even expect anything to be off before weighing it.
It has a diameter of about 19.00 mm and a thickness in the 1.45 range (measured using calipers accurate to 0.01 mm).
The main thing that is throwing me off is I keep getting a specific gravity of about 9.05-9.15 (measured using a scale with 0.001 grams of accuracy). I’m not 100% confident in my ability to perfectly perform this test, but I have performed this test a few times on this coin and gotten similar results.
The other thing I’ve noticed about the coin is that certain parts seem to have surface level silver metal/a non-copper look to them (like the date). Could this just be something like lighting, toning, or by-products from environmental damage?
With all of that being said, I am still learning and I am not sure if the reduced weight is just from environmental damage or if this coin could have some sort of planchet error.
I have attached photos below, any thoughts anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!
Comment