Spotting Fake Sterling Silver pennies! Cast coins

[jewelerdave]

One thing to be careful of is if you hunt pennies are these Sterling silver fake cents

they are not real or government issue, they are just a copy casting of a 2000D penny in sterling silver,

They are not done very well either.

Things to watch out for besides the obvious color from the wrong metal.

1. Obvious sprue points from casting.

2. Bubbles on the casting, again showing it was cast and not stamped.

3. burnt silver from the casting, ie tarnish, castings of such detail cant be polished with out losing the detail and looking polished.

Also, the weight and size is lower and smaller than that of a cent. They are 2.8 grams and slightly smaller, obviously the result of a mold and possibly of a jewelry test done years ago for a detail study!

The fact that there are counterfeit silver pennies out there is disturbing! but could there also be copper cents out there as well that are castings in copper dated 2000D ?

This is also stuff to look out for on other coins that could be castings. know what to look for!

 

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[Cerulean]

Thanks for the guide. I'll keep this in mind if I ever spot one.

However, I do have a question. Does the existence of "fake" silver pennies imply that there are "real" silver pennies out there? I'm not aware of any such thing, even as proofs. Are the people that fabricate these silver cents trying to pass them off as the real McCoy of a genuine Mint error, such as a Lincoln cent accidentally stamped on a 90% silver dime planchet? Or are these made simply for the novelty of having a silver penny?

 

[Old Dog]

Dave ,

something else to consider is these could be a zinc penny without a copper clad. if so they are worth far more than a silver one.
Mint errors are HOT and go for big $$$$
Zinc in a natural environment goes nasty fast.

Thom

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Somebody wants to exchange silver OR copper cents for all my clad zinc/copper I'll do it all day.

 

[Old Dog]

Charlie,
If you have any modern Lincoln cents that don't have the copper clad...
I will gladly trade a Merc dime for each one straight across.
If they have or ever had the copper clad you can keep them.

LOL
Thom