1985-D? Un-plated or altered?

[mikediamond]

Most unplated cents I've come across were normal diameter. This includes specimens in which the plating was chemically stripped and specimens in which a second layer of plating (silver, nickel, etc.) was added. But I will grant you that the vast majority of post-1982 Texas cents I've come across were also deplated. Perhaps the plating is chemically stripped from these Texas cents because the copper plating is disrupted, rather than removed. It's certainly true that copper plating will split when a coin expands under the impact of the dies, but splitting is an entirely different beast than complete loss. The working face of a cent die cap will also lose its copper plating, but this is a gradual phenomenon.

There's certainly plenty of room for experimental investigation.

[duece2seven]

Would a warm water dip followed by quick dry hurt this coin?

[willbrooks]

I've never heard of percussion or pressure and the associateed expansion being used to remove copper plating. I strongly doubt this is possible, since the plating is bonded to the zinc core. Since massively expanded reverse die caps show no interruption of the copper plating, this would seem to negate your suggestion. I assume the Texas cents you refer to have had their plating removed before or after the enlargement of the cent.

This was a supposition that I adopted from reports. I have never tried the process myself. But I can tell you this: it is very common for cents that have had their plating removed to be larger in diameter than normal. We have seen numerous examples of this posted in the forum. Therefore, we must next conclude that whatever process that was used to remove the plating, also caused a diametric expansion (and presumably a lessening in thickness). It would be silly to think that the plating was removed, and THEN the remainder was smashed. So the question is, can a chemical process cause a diametric expansion while removing the plating, or is smashing the coin a PART of the process to help remove the plating? Thoughts?

edit: Oh, I see Jody already made this exact point already. (Great minds think alike!) Sorry, should've read all the replies after Mike's first.