Odd numbers for Zincoln pennies (12-26)

[INSAYN]

I was dirt fishing a big park about an hour or so from home so the soil shouldn't be too much different.

Zincoln pennies always come in 12-38....to 12-40 for complete without corrosion. If they have cancer that number has been as low as 12-35 making me think I was digging a IH penny.

But, twice I dug Zincolns (late 80's dates) that were dark green like how IH's look in my soil, and roughly 4-5" deep and the numbers were dead solid in every direction at 12-26. Thought I was going to pull some kind of pull tab or something of that range.

Anyone else see numbers like this for a non cancered Zinc penny?

 

[IDXMonster]

Never seen it without something else around and even then,no. It could be the coating they have,I’ve run across really tarnished silver dimes that were hard for my carrot to see,but the CTX saw them normally.

 

[sgoss66]

No, never saw zincolns reading that low, unless something else was in the hole with it, polluting the signal (as Kevin said).

Strange...

Steve

 

[IDXMonster]

I was thinking about this today...they were GREEN? I’ve never even seen a green zinc penny,the others turn green from copper oxide I believe...but to have ZINC turn green almost makes me think they’re painted,and maybe the PAINT has something in it causing the readings.

 

[IDXMonster]

No, never saw zincolns reading that low, unless something else was in the hole with it, polluting the signal (as Kevin said).

Strange...

Steve

I was going to say something about a “polluted hole” but thought better of it....

 

[sgoss66]

LOL!

Steve

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

I have been harping about CTX 3030 CO numbers and target identification, particularly when it comes to gold, for some time now. Regarding cents, this year I have dug over 1,000 cents to date (April 201 with about 80% Zinc. Regarding cents, zincs come-in at 12:36-37 for my settings but range from 12:20s - 12:42. They seem to corrode in various ways and if a halo is created with surrounding materials can shift the CO number significantly downward with larger size. Other metals in the area can also affect the CO numbers, as mentioned. Of coins, zinc cents exhibit the most variable CO numbers, probably because of corrosion, changing surface roughness and size. It is always wise to examine cents for type of corrosion and for date. It is very possible that the mint used copper blanks, those employed in 1982 and before (vs copper-coated zinc blanks used since 1982), to strike a newer cent - this would be a planchet error and worth some money.

 

[halfstep]

I was dirt fishing a big park about an hour or so from home so the soil shouldn't be too much different.

Zincoln pennies always come in 12-38....to 12-40 for complete without corrosion. If they have cancer that number has been as low as 12-35 making me think I was digging a IH penny.

But, twice I dug Zincolns (late 80's dates) that were dark green like how IH's look in my soil, and roughly 4-5" deep and the numbers were dead solid in every direction at 12-26. Thought I was going to pull some kind of pull tab or something of that range.

Anyone else see numbers like this for a non cancered Zinc penny?

Now that you have the zinc penny out of the hole, run it by your coil and see what it reads. Pennies range for me from 12-38 to 12-44 in the ground.

 

[sprchng]

deflation?

 

[IDXMonster]

deflation?

I KNEW it was coming,just wasn’t sure from where...

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

Read your post the night before and hit a zinc at 12:25 in 2 ft of Gulf water the next day. It is fairly corroded but I have seen a lot worse with numbers in the "normal" 12:37 range. Got home and dried-out the cent and air-tested it and it still came in at 12:25; so no environmental influences. Sometimes, ya just never know.

[attachment 356927 Corroded1225cent.jpg]

 

[IDXMonster]

Which begs the question...are zincolns really made of zinc? Zinc coating with mixed metal core? I’ve pulled a few(I avoid zincolns) that felt like aluminum they were so light. Makes ya wonder what goes into them,and if they are really what the official info says they are.
That’s a fugly zincoln Lawrence!

 

[sprchng]

Don't use CLR to try and clean them,,,all you have left over is the outer copper plating.

 

[IDXMonster]

He ain’t kidding about the CLR people,if you don’t know,don’t do it. My very first batch of clad I cleaned to go to the bank 6+ years ago first went into a pickle jar filled with straight CLR. To give them a good soaking I figured overnight would do it. It “did it” alright. I had an entire jar full of copper! Everything was copper! And the solution had turned a rank brown/black color. I wound up taking them to Coinstar instead and almost all went through. I didn’t want to answer any questions the bank might’ve had for me...
That stuff removes calcium,lime and rust. And other things.

 

[sgoss66]

Lawrence --

I am not surprised that coin did not read properly.

Metal detectors work by transmitting an electromagnetic field that then induces electrical current flow in a metal object; "reading" the transmitted field emanating from the current flowing in the metal object is then how the machine "sees" the object. Those currents induced in a metal target are called "eddy currents," and the more effectively a metal object can conduct those "eddy currents," the higher "conductivity" the object is ID'd at by the unit. So, if you imagine a copper-coated coin versus that crusty coin encased in who-knows-what type of minerals, you could imagine how electrical current would flow more effectively in the "clean" coin versus the crusty one. THUS -- the crusty coin would read as a much lower-conductive object (versus the clean one) to a machine.

Bottom line, I can easily see how that coin of your would only support poor eddy current flow. On the other hand, a non-corroded zinc, with just verdigris (green patina) on it, is not as easy to explain (in terms of such low conductivity).

Steve

 

[ynnek4]

I had back to back IHP’s come up around 12-40ish. This was in sandy beach-like soil.