Whatzit Forum

Today I was excited to find what I thought was a silver dime because of how shiny this came out of the ground and I'm hunting an area abandoned in the mid 1950's with some finds being around 1898 so far. But then I realised it was not a dime but a penny, Although it looks very different than it should. Here is a chart of the compositions of the canada penny through history...

2000present * 2.35 g 19.05 mm, round 94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plated zinc
19971999 * 2.25 g 19.05 mm, round 98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
19821996 2.5 g 19.1 mm, 12-sided 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
19801981 2.8 g 19.0 mm, round 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
19781979 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
19421977 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc
19201941 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
18761920 5.67 g 25.4 mm, round 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
18581859 4.54 g 25.4 mm, round 95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc

I looked online for this year of canada penny and they all look like a normal copper penny, What makes this one different? Believe me, this has no resemblance to COPPER. I did not use a flash and I put a normal looking canada penny next to it for reference. I can get video of it with copper pennies if there is doubt to the photos. One thing that also intrigues me is the fact that someone thought enough of this fairly modern penny to put a hole in it for a necklace or jewelry. Any ideas?

It looks like someone silver plated it and used it for jewelry........

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Bells and whistles are nice, but nothing will substitute for the basic understanding of the hobby.

CTX 3030, V3i, Pro XL M6 W/Bigfoot coil, Cibola/modified

I looked as well as possible at the hole and it looks solid white or silver colored throughout. That doesn't prove it is not plated but I really don't think it is. I'm really hopeful that it is something special. Is there a way to safely test it to see if it is copper? Maybe by weighing it? My brother has a small scale for weighing ammo powder and precious metals, I could use that to get a weight but the hole would have a slight affect on weight. Anybody think that it could be an error with a dime plachet? Dimes were silver at the time.

Picture says it all. I was cleaning the heavy buildup off the rim with my finger nail when it revealed its dirty secret. *Pout

Probably someones birth year...I have a mint set of 1965 US coins as it is mybirthyear, and the first year of Clad...

HH,

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Deactivated at users request 08/26/12

Hey, thanks for the idea! Previously at the same site I found a Sterling Silver with gold plate bracelet with a ladies name and I researched her and it had her maiden name but she was married in 1950. The bracelet was lost before she was married in 1950 and since then her named changed. I only found her online due to her obituary. But she was survived by her husband! So I looked him up and gave it to him and he remembered buying it for his girlfriend around '48 when she was about 16. Because of all the research I had to do to return the bracelet, I know they had a couple children! Maybe this is one of their childrens birth year.

That penny might have been in a resin encasing, like those souvenir pen holders. I have one with 2 pennies and they shine alot more different than other pennies.

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Garrett ACE 250. "Goody getter"