1951-D Lincoln Struck on a Foreign Planchet or Sturck Coin?

[Danester]

I'm going through some bags of Wheat Cents I purchased in the mid-1990's and never had time to look at. I have six bags or 30,000 Lincoln Wheat Cents to eye-ball. What can I say.... I've been busy with no time to go through them. Care to take a quess on how many die varieties I might find?

I found this piece tonight - it's a 1951-D Lincoln Cent that looks to have been struck on a foreign planchet... and more specific, a struck foreign coin. It's lighter than a Wheat Cent and thinner. I don't have a scale so I can't tell you the weight.

The only reference I found (MintErrorNews.com) from a quick Internet search was the following below - but a 1951 Costa Rica 5 Centimos is made of copper-nickel like our 5-cent Nickel and they were only coined at the Phiadelpha Mint.


"1951 Roosevelt Dime struck on a 1951 Costa Rica 5 Centimos, double denomination, authenticated by ANACS. Roosevelt Dime off-metal strikes are rare due to the fact that the coin or planchet has to be smaller than the Dime blank. There are only a few Dime off-metals known. This piece was struck on a previously struck 1951 Costa Rica 5 Centimos. The Costa Rica coin has a weight of 15.43 grains and is composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel. These coins were only struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1951 and 1952, although they are all dated 1951."



The United States mint has struck coins for the following foreign countries:
• Argentina
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Belgian Congo
• Belgium
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Curacao
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• France
• French Indo-China
• Greenland
• Guatemala
• Hawaii
• Honduras
• Israel
• Korea
• Liberia
• Mexico
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• Netherlands East Indies
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• El Salvador
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• Surinam
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Venezuela

[mikediamond]

This was an initially normal cent that was then placed within a ring of aluminum, tin, pewter, or other white metal. Then the ring was struck with an advertising slogan or some other message, which caused the hole in the ring to narrow and crimp the edge of your coin. In other words, this is an "encased" or "lucky token" cent.

[coop]

Actually it WAS, an encased coin, now it is just damaged. Worth more when they are left in there.

[Danester]

An incased coin - that makes sense. I don't have much experience in this area.... but, how do you explain the fact the coin is thinner and seems lighter than a Wheat Cent. Also, there appears to be some vestige of a different design as indicated by the arrows. This design vestige is a little strange too, as it appears incused (higher on the side of the red arrows).

This design looks similar to the back head of our Large Cent, Matron Head design. Then, what's that on Abe's upper arm. Also, the yellow arrow points to some slanting lines that taper shorter to the southeast.

I have no idea what is going on here.... could the incased coin process cause the coin to become thinner, lighter and deform the surface?

[coppercoins]

Encasement would not cause the coin to be lighter in weight, but you would need to weigh it to be sure. Just "feeling" lighter doesn't make the coin "actually" lighter.

The warped surface of the coin is caused by the encasement.

The thinner edges are also caused by the encasement.

I run into one of thes ein just about every 5,000 count bag I go through.

As a side note, most of the time these are not "taken" out of the encasements - they fall out.

[Danester]

OK, I weighed this 1951-D Lincoln Cent and it is right on at 3.10 grams... a standard Lincoln Wheat Cent is 3.11 grams. So, you guys are correct it is a Lincoln Wheat Cent that was once incased. I learned something and how to spot these.

How about this one...... I think I know what I have, but I want your take first. I weighed this one too, and it came in at 2.52 grams. {see new thread for this}

[mikediamond]

The second cent was trimmed with a hollow punch. The downwarping of the perimeter, lack of metal flow, and perfect centering are dead giveaways.

[eagames]

Might be trimmed with a punch so it could work as a dime in the old vending machines.

Is it about dime size?