1998 Type II Reverse

penny_wise · Member

While this may belong in the type section, I'm putting it here because I was wondering if you have seen any more Linc's where the cladding has either exploded or is torn in the stamping process.

I was looking over some change and I found this 1998 P with what looked like a Type II reverse. It was corroded something fierce and could not tell. Since it was a lost cause any way I used some of my wife’s brass cleaner on it. I rubbed and rubbed because there were some spots that just would not come off. When I put it under the microscope, lo’ and behold, I could see where the cladding was either ripped away or had that exploded look. Seems I found what caused the corrosion. I have seen other Linc’s of the cladding type with some tearing of the outer clad around the rim of the coin before, but nothing that looked like this.

Between the "F" and "A" you can see a discoloration. That is where one of the areas where the clad seem to have exploded away. Try as I may, I can't get what I see under a microscope to show up.

I do not advocate cleaning coins. This one was so far gone, that by cleaning it I learned what a cleaned coin looks like as well as discovered the cladding anomality.

Edited to reduce size of pictures as suggested...

coop · Expert Member

The image is a little large?? When placing images here a with of 700 Pixcels if the right size.
But the coin looks great. When you find a Cent left out on the road, it make holes through the plating and when the air hits the zinc, it erodes away. In time it would be a shell. Kind of like a locust that has shed its skin.

penny_wise · Member

I'll go back in and re-size them. Thanks for the heads up.

Again, thanks for the heads up....the resized pictures are now showing.

coop · Expert Member

From the images, it looks OK. I still don't see the discoloration area. So I would say its a Keeper. Someday I will find one, but they get pretty well cherried by the time they make it here. East Coast gets all Philly Cents, Midwest gets a mixture, and the west coast get mainly Denver coin with a sparse amount of San Francisco's. So there are Positive and Negatives living in each area.

penny_wise · Member

Finally got a close up of what I'm seeing. This is where the clading sort of exploded - torn outward - which exposed the zinc and the corrosion. This is just one of the tears on the reverse. It is by the "D" in "UNITED"

coop · Expert Member

The plating stretched and seperated in the striking process. Nothing to clean up on that. Its the way it was made. Air will cause the zinc to continue to eat away on the zinc and in time it will be a hershey's kiss with out the chocolate with a copper cocoon on it.

penny_wise · Member

Thanks Coop. I just acquired a 1990 Unc Mint set where the 1990D Rev has the same effect on it. Yep---still in the mint package.