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Silver peeny

Billy Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 975 Southeast Oklahoma   Pics

2003-08-03          60829

My wife found this 1963 Lincoln cent. It looks to have some silver, zinc or maybe aluminum in it. I can't find a mint mark. Anyone have any info on this?

Billy

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Silver peeny

kwschumm Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon   Pics

2003-08-03          60833

My dad used to collect coins. I'd look it up in one of his books but they are a couple thousand miles away right now. I remember that he used to think there was nothing special about those pennies. That doesn't mean there is nothing special about YOUR penny though.
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Silver peeny

DRankin Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada   Pics

2003-08-03          60844

Are you sure it isn't a 1943 Lincoln penny? They didn't make them out of copper that year due to war shortages. ....

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Silver peeny

Misenplace Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 875 Michigan   Pics

2003-08-04          60872

Yes try to see if its a 1943 like Mark H suggested. The war pennys have gone up a lot in the past few years. Try going to www dot PCGS dot com and finding the date. On the main page you will see a daily price report. A 1943 on PCGS-MS-65 is currently $6.00. Thats is in near flawless condition and only then if graded by PCGS. There are other gradeing services but coins graded by them generally trade for less. You might go to eBay and do a search then track a couple of auctions for the same coin/date to get a real world feel of the value of your find. ....

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Silver peeny

Chief Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee   Pics

2003-08-04          60881

I was thinking the same thing as Mark. Now, those wooden nickels are really tough to find. ;-) ....

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Silver peeny

AC5ZO Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144   Pics

2003-08-04          60897

They made steel pennies during WW2 as mentioned. Some time around the mid sixties, pennies were changed from pure copper to copper clad zinc. I think that the year was 1964 when this started, but I am just working off of my memory here. Pennies after 1964 can show silvery sections of zinc if the copper is worn off.

A more likely scenario is that someone dropped the penny into photographic fixer. I have done this before myself. The copper will self plate with silver from the photographic chemicals. The plating thickness is less than .001 inch thick and will generally wear off rapidly. It is also possible that it could be coated with some other metal like the tin used in printed circuit board processing shops. This plating can also take place if a kid uses the penny as a cathode in a school battery experiment.

There are some extremely rare mint errors where the blank for a dime or nickel gets run through the coining press for the penny. This will form a penny out of the silvery metal. These are extremely rare and would be worth up to several thousand dollars if that is what it is. These are snapped up by collectors in short order and it is very unlikely that one has been in circulation for forty years.

If you can send me some pictures of the coin, I will try to guess what it is. Also, any coin dealer in your town will be able to tell you. Just don't sell it if they want to buy it until you get a second opinion. ....

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Silver peeny

Billy Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 975 Southeast Oklahoma   Pics

2003-08-04          60918

Thanks guys. It is a 63. I think AC most likely told the story. It really looks like it got discolored with something. ....

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