Expert: Dan Moore - 12/3/2009

Question
Found a penny with the following characteristics:

1. Appearance of being plated with a gold-colored coating.

2. No mint mark (Philly?)

3. Where edges are worn, silver or nickel showing through.

4. The depth die relief seems to be consistent with copper pennies of  
the mid to late 60s.

Any idea if this is anything special? The looks to be in brand new condition.
Thanks
I appreciate your time.

Answer
Without being able to see the coin, I can only speculate.  No mintmark does mean it came from Phillie, but you didn't specify the date.

All pennies since mid-1982 are made almost entirely of zinc, with a thin outer layer of copper.  If these coins get "baked" at a high temperature, a chemical reaction occurs causing the coin to turn yellow.  And if you scrape the surface, you will find the silvery-colored zinc underneath.  If your coin is dated 1982 or newer, this would perfectly explain what you have.

The other possibility -- being gold plated -- doesn't explain the silvery color undrneath, so if your coin is older than 1982 than I dont have an explanation.

In any case, this coin did not come from the mint in its current condition -- it has somehow been altered.  Which means it has no collector value.

I hope this helps,

Dan