Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 7/5/2007

Question
I also have a 1971 silverish penny. Its is not painted on or dyed. Any clues as to where they came from?

Answer
Greg, I have been getting a lot of these indications of the "silver" colored cents.  How do you know it has not been painted on?  If it were a coating it would be very hard to impossible to tell.  I believe that the most likely explanation is indeed that the coin was painted after minting.  The only other explanation I can think of is a cent that was minted on a dime planchet.  That can and has happened in the past.  However, if it happened here, your piece would be the size of a dime and not the size of a cent.  Compare what you have to a cent and to a dime to see.  To be sure, you'd have to show the piece to an expert at a show or a coin shop.  

There is a coated 1950 cent selling now on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-P-LINCOLN-WHEAT-PENNY-ODDITY-ERROR-CENT-SILVER-COL_W0QQ...  A search on eBay for silver penny and for silver cent might uncover more.

Jim Lawniczak