Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 1/15/2008

Question
I have a penny that has no face on either side. This must of been a mistake. Is this worth anything? Thanks-Heather

Answer
Heather, I'm not 100% sure what you have by the description, but would imagine it must be one of two things.  You may have a blank, unstamped "planchet" (a planchet is the copper blank that is prepared to be punched into a cent).  Sometimes at the mint these planchets escape without being empressed, and the planchet gets into the mint bag and becomes available.  They are not all that scarce and I think sell for a couple dollars to maybe 5 or so depending on condition.  Try going to www.ebay.com and doing a search for blank planchet or unstamped planchet or unstamped cent etc. and you should find some for sale.

Or the alternative is that you have a cent that was one made and was a cent, but someone planed off both sides so that there is nothing there now.  Little boys like to play with things so that might be an explanation for that possibility.  If that is the case, you should see some evidence of that somewhere on the piece, and the piece should be thinner than you would think.  

Hope this helped, Jim Lawniczak