Expert: Dan Moore - 7/2/2008

Question
I found a penny that was minted in 1989 but has no markings from where it was minted and it is also silver like a dime.  I was wondering if it is worht anything and how can I find out where it came from.
Thanks
Jennifer

Answer
Jennifer,

You have either :

1) a normal penny that was plated with either silver, nickel, zinc, or some other silvery-looking metal, by somebody with too much time on their hands -- no added collector value

or :

2) a unfinished planchet error coin.  All pennies since 1983 are made almost entirely from zinc, with a thin outer copper layer.  These error coins come from penny blanks cut out of a portion of the long metal strip that did not get its outer copper coating.  So the zinc core is exposed, giving it that silvery color.  With over 8 billion pennies minted every year, this error happens more often than you might think.  Value at about a dollar.


Weigh your coin.  If it weighs slightly more than 2.5 grams, then you probably have the plated coin.  If it weighs slightly less than 2.5 grams, then you probably have the unfinished planchet error.

I hope this helps,

Dan