After Market Errors

[coop]

Sometimes while checking through a bunch of Cents you find something that isn't right. I'm not talking about the plastic Cents you sometimes find in rolls. But coins that are not the right weight/thickness/diameter. Chances are that what you found was an after market coin. Made to accomplish a certain task or just to have fun with in the shop. What I was covering today is coins that were dipped in acid to alter the size of the coin. We've all heard about coins that someone in chemistry class had put into a test tube and added some acid to it. Depending how long the coin is in the acid, it makes the coin thinner, smaller in diameter and lighter in weight. Well through the years I've seen a few of them and when I would find one, I would add it to my collection of odd ball stuff and use it for educational purposes. Why would they intentionally ruin a coin? Well there is the story of turning cents into dimes in the eariler years. They would use the coin to buy a soda. At that time (1960's) you could get a soda for 10 Cents. Other times they would do it just for fun. So here is an image of some of the coins I've found after someone put into acid:

I saw a quarter at a coin show that someone had treated with acid. But instead of submerging it in acid, the placed into a thin pool of acid to remover the silver from just one side.
The result of the removing it in acid left the coin without a strong rim and weakening of the letters/numbers on the outside edge of the coin. I'm not saying that this doesn't happen at the mint where the silver is missing from the obverse/reverse sides of sandwich metal coins. It just a way someone could take an advantage and sell coins that weren't worth what was printed on the back of the coin. On this coin the obverse side of the coin had the smallest layer of the silver on it, and some of the silver can still be seen in streaks on the left hand side of the bust. So buy what you know to be a geniune error or variety, or stay away from purchasing coins if your not sure they are the real McCoy.

[eagames]

I have seen several of these acid treated cents, I came to the same conclusion that somebody tried to make them into dime size to trick a vending machine because all of them were about dime sized and the ones I found were 41 through 62 about the right period for 10 cent sodas.

Another similar thing I have have seen are modern zinc cents that are missing the copper plating. I know that running one through the laundry with bleach will strip the rim to be zinc colored and I have seen some 82-83s that had the plating bubling so much that it looks like it could be peeled off.

If you find a non plated modern zinc cent What would be clues to look for to say they are real mint errors or faked? Would some tiny bits of copper be a sign of being faked or could that come from copper stuck to the die? Would the strike seem to lack detail even on a real one? Could one still show some cartwheel even if it was stripped or peeled?

[lucky2]

I had a collector tell me that in his science class they as expeiments removed the copper plating from lincoln cents. i showed him several I had and he said that they could very well have come out of his class. Starting with the dark color of the zinc and he said that under magnification you will always find a speck of copper somewhere on the coin usually on the rim.~lucky2