1991-P missing plating

[aballein]

my sister found this and gave it to me, i believe it is missing the copper plating...are these fairly common and do they have any kind of premium associated with them( should i stash it or just put it in my "cool" box)

[Steven]

Aaron ,
This looks to be coated with something rather than missing layer.

Steven

[Steven]

I believe I heard somewhere that some coins were coated with mercury or something like that and could be dangerous to handle.

Steven

[eagames]

From the pics I think Steven is right.

It looks like it was coated then the coating is rubbing off along the rim.

It also looks a bit too shiny, missing plating cents that I've see can have luster but not as shiny as that one looks. They also get oxidation fast since zinc is so reactive.

Be careful not to touch it in case it is dipped in mercury.

[coppercoins]

Looks to me to be a genuine missing plating error, and they are quite valuable. That one, probably $20-$30, but you'd be better off asking someone who really knows the value of such things. I'm nearly certain this isn't a plated coin. The luster is too realistic and the details appear to be sharp.

[Gabe]

I've owned a couple missing layer cents, and I have never gotten a good answer in how this error is made.

I have always been told that these errors are caused by a die striking a planchet that is missing its outer copper layer. This planchet then is simply the zinc core that constitutes for most of the composition of the modern cent.

But... all copper planchets are punched out of huge copper strips rolls that weight thousands of pounds. Then I wonder, how can this error be created. Was the whole copper strip missing the copper layer? If that is the case, then thousands of missing clad layer cents would be made. But this is not likely, since a huge strip roll missing a copper layer would be easily spotted.

Maybe I just don't understand how planchets are made in the begining processes of coining. Can anyone explain this to me?

[coop]

I don't think this coin was cut from a copper strip. Wrong year. It would have been cut from a zinc planchet, run throught the upset mill and plated with copper. In this case the planchet may have not been plated if that is the case.

[eagames]

I see in the pic that the rim looks copper color, if it is then the coin is not missing the plating it might be painted or plated over then that rubbed of from the rim showing copper plating below. Maybe Aaron can tell us if that copper color on the rim is something only in the photo?

I've heard several things that I don't think are true. One is that they plate the whole zinc strip with copper and missing plating can be at the edge or end of the strip but this never made sense because the rims are plated so I assume reality is they plate the already cut planchets. Maybe they have done it differently for different years.

I recently saw on tv that the mint does not make planchets for cents any more. They buy the planchets (I think they said from Dow or Dupont) already made and plated. They did not say if they are run through the upset mill at the mint or the planchet supplier.

Maybe someone knows the facts?

[aballein]

well upon closer inspection it does appear to have a copper color along the obverse and reverse rims, the edge is pure "zinc" color, as well as the rest of the coin. I have seen coins for sale on ebay that are slabbed by a TPG that state 80% clad layer missing, so i assume that it could be possible for my coin to be missing all the copper except the obv/rev rims. It may very well be coated with something and although i dont have a scale in which measure the weight, according to my measuring system if it is coated with something then it not showing up in the weight of the coin. If it were mercury coated then it would be substantially heavier would it not? If i knew of some sort of solution that i could use to attempt to remove the alleged coating then i would try it. I just dont want to hurt the coin if it is indeed missing the copper layer.

[eagames]

Still think it's not a real "non plated cent" since it has copper showing along the rims especialy the same on both sides. I don't know of any way a real one would have plating only in that area. The ones slabbed as things like 80% missing that I've seen are either randomly missing or in one random area or edge. Maybe someone else does?

Maybe it was plated or painted then that couting rubbed off from the rim. On fake ones where they strip the plating they lack detail, yours has detail so it must be real or plated/coated/painted.

I doubt you can weigh the increase from the coating or plating or lack of it because it's very thin.

If you leave a normal plated cent in a clothes washer for a few cycles the rim will become zinc colored as the copper comes off.

[Steven]

Ed,
What did you do? Forget to take the change out of your pockets before washing
Been there, done that. Change cleans up pretty good and doesn't come out wrinkled.
Steven

[aballein]

here is an ebay link, im not going to argue its validity(my coin) as it may be coated with something, but it may also be a genuine error. Until i find a way to know for sure i guess all we can do is speculate. If there can be a coin with 80% missing i dont see how there couldnt be one with just a little hint of the plating around the edges. I might try a quick dip in paint thinner or something...i dont plan on selling this coin so if i ruin it oh well...it was free and its killing me not knowing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PCGS-MS63-1c-80-Unplated-Zinc-Plan-1994-US-Mint-Error_W0QQitemZ190095625713QQihZ009QQcategoryZ524QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

[eagames]

The one on the link looks real, the plating's on one edge of the coin, a planchet could get partly plated like it wasn't fully in the plating solution. I've seen spotted 80% ones too.

No argument on yours, it could be real. I can only guestimate based on how it looks in a pic. Like I said maybe someone has seen one like that. It does look detailed so it wasn't stripped.

I'd avoid thinner, acetone won't hurt it but don't rub it dry. Maybe send it in or maybe Coop or Bob or Chuck would look at it (if you sent to one of them), see what they say, cheaper than TPGs.

I had a similar predicament with one. No plating and the zinc has some oxidation. It has cartwheel especialy on the reverse. Found in a roll from a show in 83. Thought it's real since it was in a roll. I was close to sending it to ANACS but lacking sharpness I figured I'd be wasting $ on it. Since 82 was the first year of zincs maybe a chemistry class played with it then a joker put it in that roll. I'm still amazed anyone could strip it and still have cartwheel on it but I conclude it's stripped

The pic looks worse than the coin, it has detail but lacks sharpness. Check it out:

[coop]

Ed: This looks one of your laundered coins. With age and exposted to air, you should be seeing potholes developing depending how long ago the copper plating was removed. I've found two 1983-D Cents were the zinc reached air and the mintmark has fallen off. Yep, just a crator there now. I wondered if the two were from the same die, but the locations of the MM's is different. Si I concluded they were not from the same die. So I guessing laundering to remove the copper plating from the Cent found. With the zinc removed and air touching the zinc, a reaction should be present if it is a truly mint error. I've seen coins that supposed to have beennnot coated from the 1985 era. These had a lot of orange rind because of poor rinsing percedure. The poor rinse affected the copper layer and had bumps under the copper plating. But some that look zinc looking, (plated over the copper) still shows the bumps from a poor rinse and the rim wear to copper plating. Looked like they were plated over the copper plating. So I've see this after minting mess trying to appear as a faked zinc without copper. When loking at the plating it seems un-relistically rough, showing the bumps of a poor cleaning/plating and if you look close to the lower part of the rim in the deeper area, you can see copper plating with Zinc over the copper plating.

OK. So you make one of these and you know it fake. Some may try to sell them on ebay claiming they don't know what happened to it. No one bids of this coin as other pick up on it that this is a fake. So what does the owner of the altered coin do with the coin? He puts it back into circulation for the next collector to be puzzled with.

The only ones you could be sure of being mintmade are the ones that was struck with a dime planchet with the wafer look on the edge of the rim of the silver/copper/silver. But even if this dime planchet is slighly smaller it may have a cutting off of details near the rim area. In one case senerio where it is struck exactly on center, the the details on the rim area would still be flattened.

[eagames]

Coop,

Good points.
Makes me wonder how any non plated cent that was not stored in an oxygen free holder can exist without being very oxidized and falling appart.


In the laundry it only removes plating from the rim.