Why do IH & Wheaties read differently?

[Neil in West Jersey]

Why do two coins with the same composition read differently? Both the Indian Head Pennies (1864 and later) and the Wheaties are composed of .950 copper and .050 tin and zinc. Wheaties almost always read dead on "penny" and Indians sound considerably lower. Can someone shed some light on this?

 

[Blockade Runner]

Hello Neil,

While you are throwing the subject out there, the two cent pieces also read below 1 cent. This 1869 read one click below penny ( I dug this in February when I first got the GTI and was thinking it needed adjustment. After trying a bunch of older coins and seeing how they
ID I came to the conclusion that Garrett sets their ID up for modern
new coins.
I checked an 1863 Indian Head and it reads 1 click above nickel. The
fertilizers have turned it read like it appears to contain nickel. I think that the Indian heads and 2 cents coin contain nickel but we will wait to see what someone comes up with.

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

[quote Blockade Runner]

I checked an 1863 Indian Head and it reads 1 click above nickel. The
fertilizers have turned it read like it appears to contain nickel. .[/quote]

BR:

I found an 1859 "Fatty" Indian Head a while back and it read the same as yours. The reason the Flying Eagles and early IH Cents read that way is because they were composed of copper & nickel. IN fact until the nickel five cent piece was introduced in 1866, Indian Heads were known as Nickels or "Nicks". I am specifically wondering about the Indians that have the same composition as Lincoln "Wheat" Cents.

I have never found a two cent piece, but they are also .950 copper and.050 zinc and tin, so I would imagine they would read the same, or slightly higher as the later Indians.

BTW: your two cent piece is a beauty!

 

[Uncle Willy]

I believe IH's contain bronze.

Bill

 

[Mike in Dana Point Ca]

i've noticed the same thing, IH's normally read like zincs for me, but sometimes a bit lower, and once in a GREAT while one will come in as a copper penny...i've also noticed that some of the older wheats (early teens wheats) will sometimes read lower as well. it might have something to do with the "zits" that sometimes form on older cents.

 

[KCK]

I think it's all about the metal contentgood neighbor!

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

[quote KCK]I think it's all about the metal contentgood neighbor![/quote]

I believe the coins are the same content .950 copper and .050 zinc & tin.


KCK Are you the one who sold me the CXIII?