Strange Wheat penny

[wesfrye53]

Here's a second strange find in my yard today. A shiny 1956 wheat penny with a small loop attached as if it was worn as a necklace.

The rim appears to be slightly thicker than a normal penny and it appears to weigh a slight bit more. The lop seems too flimsy to be worn as a necklace and appears to be soldered on.

When some of us were younger, it was a cool thing to find a broken thermometer and rub a penny in the mercury to make it appear silver. Could this be what was done to this? Or have some of you seen pennys that were silver-plated and made into necklaces?

The first 2 picture were lighted with a small flashlight to try and highlight the silver appearance. That's when I noticed a bit of the copper showing through. The last picture is unlit ti show it's a penny, or a pretty good replica.

 

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[BioProfessor]

When I was a kid, we rubbed silver dimes with mercury but not pennies. I wouldn't expect the mercury to still be there as elemental mercury. It should have reacted with the copper and stuff in the ground to give you a big green mess. I remember messing around with my chemistry set (You could get real chemistry sets back then.) and trying to plate things. Maybe someone tried and succeeded in chrome plating the penny.

Keep looking at it an let us know if you notice anything else and try to get some better pictures. Maybe it will make sense then.

Daryl
"Mad Scientist as a Kid - Had a fume hood in my bedroom when I was 9. - Some of my experiments smoked"

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

When I was in high school we used to stick pennies in the developer trays in the Photo lab (graphic arts) on Friday. Monday morning they would be silver plated. And Mr. Konechney would make you clean the trays and stay for detention if he caught you ("killed" the developer).

 

[Kas]

About a month ago I found a 1944 D that appeared to be stealy. Now, that is a super rare find. there were a few made by mistake.
After testing it with a magnet, I found that it wouldn't stick.
Plated by someone with what I believe to be mercury.

Incidently, I went to the school where I found the wheaty, and it was under the second floor chemistry classroom.