Extreme Pennies! Suggestions?
- Thread starter FelixtheCat
- Start date
OZ_IL
Forum Supporter
Welcome to the land of ZLincolns :P The same question has popped up now and again. I gave my nasty looking ones to the Salvation Army as word is they send stuff like that to the mint for exchange. Some roll them, some toss them, some run them through coin counters to see how many get accepted by the machine.FelixtheCat said:Guys, after sorting, cleaning & tumbling I have a few stuboorn pennies with crud that won't come off.These were tumbled nearly 24 hours. Should I shoot them?
Suggestions? Thanks!
BTW - what you complaining about - they could look like these
OZ - I actually got two that are eaten away as much as your bottom two, (but not as shiny!)
brooklynct2003
Senior Member
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- Dec 4, 2006
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I have an idea. Save those photos and send them to the US Mint and your Congressmen to complain.
Ask them to come up with a better alloy
Ask them to come up with a better alloy
MattInPhila
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2006
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I`ve dug up plenty of pennies like that too! I just roll them up and take them to my bank. Never had any problems doing that.
Harley-Dog
Senior Member
Hey OZ...
The photo you posted intrigues me. Yes, I find lots of decomposed zlincolns, but when 25% of the coin is missing, what remains is totally pitted and hardly any of the copper plating remains. I find it amazing that the bottom 2 pennies in your photo are missing as much as they are, but the remaining portions still look to be in rather good condition! It's like the coins were stood on edge and only pushed halfway into the ground--one half rotted away while the other half remained like new.
I tumble all my cents in a mixture of aquarium gravel, water, dish soap, and add a couple teaspoons of concentrated lemon juice. If there's still copper on a zlincoln, that part of the coin comes out sparkling bright, but where the copper is already chipped or flaked off, the zinc underneath is bluish-gray to black in color (similar to the top coin in your photo).
Harley-Dog
The photo you posted intrigues me. Yes, I find lots of decomposed zlincolns, but when 25% of the coin is missing, what remains is totally pitted and hardly any of the copper plating remains. I find it amazing that the bottom 2 pennies in your photo are missing as much as they are, but the remaining portions still look to be in rather good condition! It's like the coins were stood on edge and only pushed halfway into the ground--one half rotted away while the other half remained like new.
I tumble all my cents in a mixture of aquarium gravel, water, dish soap, and add a couple teaspoons of concentrated lemon juice. If there's still copper on a zlincoln, that part of the coin comes out sparkling bright, but where the copper is already chipped or flaked off, the zinc underneath is bluish-gray to black in color (similar to the top coin in your photo).
Harley-Dog
uprscdigger
New Member
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- Feb 4, 2007
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I thought it was something in th clay down here. It seems the the new'er they get, the faster they corrode.
steve in so la
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What I do with my stubborn pennies is to keep them in the jar that I throw my new digs in and tumble them again. And maybe again - seems like eventually they clean up as I dont throw many out. Steve in so az
hoser
Forum Supporter
Yup,, those are in pretty bad shape for sure. I don't mess with them when they are that bad. Not worth the effort. I just hide a few in penny rolls and turn them in at the bank.
brooklynct2003
Senior Member
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- Dec 4, 2006
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for the zinc pennies ONLY. throw them in a vinegar solution(DO NOT do this with any other coins, especially silver or older collectibles). Put them in a spaghetti sauce jar with a few table spoons of beach sand & 1 cup vinegar. Shake aggressively for a few minutes, wait an hour, repeat 2- 3 times.
The Vinegar attacks the Zinc faster than the copper, so the surface scale should fall off with the acid and abrasion.
The Vinegar attacks the Zinc faster than the copper, so the surface scale should fall off with the acid and abrasion.
bugguy
Elite Member
how about gold penniesbrooklynct2003 said:
