Odd penny the size of a nickel

[USERNAME IS VALID]

So I dug this up Saturday at the river and before I cleaned it I thought it was a nickel, turns out it was nickel sized penny. What the heck? The edge has a groove all the way around too. Lincolns head is clearly bigger.

 

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[iAmMike]

Interesting. Not sure what to make of it. Is it 1994?

 

[USERNAME IS VALID]

Interesting. Not sure what to make of it. Is it 1994?

Yes, I don't know either.

 

[iAmMike]

Yes, I don't know either.

This guy has one too: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1994-d-lincoln-cent-size-of-a-nickel-but-a-bit-thiner.292153/

 

[USERNAME IS VALID]

This guy has one too: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1994-d-lincoln-cent-size-of-a-nickel-but-a-bit-thiner.292153/

Weird. Nobody seems to know. I did find this on YouTube

 

[l.cutler]

I see I responded to that one in the cointalk link. It is an altered coin, called a "Texas cent". There are a couple ways it can be done. If heated carefully to the right temperature, the inner zinc core will soften and spread out, or put between two pieces of wood or leather and pounded. This one was done by pounding, that is why the edge looks like that.

 

[Digger RJ]

So I dug this up Saturday at the river and before I cleaned it I thought it was a nickel, turns out it was nickel sized penny. What the heck? The edge has a groove all the way around too. Lincolns head is clearly bigger.

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🤔

 

[caretaker]

I have a bunch of them, it's from heat, I found one on a radiator in a house, dug a couple others in playgrounds

 

[USERNAME IS VALID]

I have a bunch of them, it's from heat, I found one on a radiator in a house, dug a couple others in playgrounds

I guess it was most popular in 1994, everyone seems to have the same date.

 

[l.cutler]

I guess it was most popular in 1994, everyone seems to have the same date.

No, if you have a chance hang out on one of the coin forums for a while. Tons of them show up of all dates of zinc cents. Google "Texas cent" and you'll see a bunch of different dates as well. https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/texas-cent.631373/

 

[SD51]

Was going to say I wondered if my brother owned it for a while. He is famous for "pinching pennies" and forgetting to bring his wallet with when it's time to pay the restaurant bill!

 

[oldmxrat]

Pretty whacky.

 

[Evan in CA]

I find them a lot. I hunt in the forest where there was forest fires in the past, and the heat caused them to swell