1899 Indian head penny struck on a dime?

[Noel]

I have six of these Indian Head pennies. Five of them way 3.1 grams but this one here weighs 2.4 grams20180507_090157-0.jpg20180507_090230-0.jpg
Any value in this coin?

[VAB2013]

Environmental damage can cause a coin to weigh less than normal. That would be my guess. Let's see what the pro's have to say!

[Noel]

I suppose so. It has been in the safe at my dad's house since the 50s.

[VAB2013]

So, I guess it would be hard to know if it looked this way when it was put into the safe back in the 50's. I would think safes are moisture resistant to some degree, but I think the guys here put rice or silica packs in their safes to prevent moisture.

[Noel]

True. Time takes a toll on everything. Seems like the other five would have lost some weight too though.

[Petespockets55]

A couple of things.


I see very few denticles around the perimeter of this coin. Indicates corrosion or mechanical removal to me.
I see severe pitting and environmental damage. (Acid?)

Because of coin shortages there were actually some people counterfeiting Indian Cents. Shortage of change for commerce was a big reason for Civil War Tokens, Store Tokens and Hard Time tokens in the early to mid-1800s.

[jfines69]

It may have been a thin planchet to begin with then it was damage... I do not think there is enough missing to lose .7 grams (Nearly 1 gram) of weight??? I do not know what the nominal weight is on the IHCs!!!

[jfines69]

I moved your thread to Off Topic Discussion since it is not a Lincoln!!!

[GrumpyEd]

Not struck on a dime, they were silver.

It looks like loss of weight from damage/wear/corrosion.

It is the type 2 design so that means it's 1886 or later, could be a 99 as you think but it's tough to see for sure in the pics.

[Noel]

Better pictures. Looks silver to me.
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