1941-P Wheat Cent Off-Weight (2.6g) and rings almost like silver when dropped????

I just read the article Mike Diamond wrote on the Heavy Brassy 1941 cents and decided to weigh mine. I only got through about 3 or 4 and the next one weighed 2.6 grams. When dropped it rings almost like a silver coin, not like a zinc cent or a copper one. What the heck is going on? The color or thickness doesn't scream anything at me. I am totally confused. HELP please!

 

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He said a normal weighed around 3.11 grams, 2.6 to 3.1 is not a lot of grains in difference. I would say die deterioration has dropped the weight. As a cent deteriorates it would surely lose weight. It makes sense to me anyway, that if you lose material from the cent, that the weight would drop also.

 

Die deterioration would have NOTHING to do with the weight, as no matter what state the die is in, the weight of the planchet remains consistent. It could possibly be struck on a rolled thin planchet.
Keep up the hunt!

 

Once again I do not concur with Mr. non cents reply. There was a saying once that matter can not be created or destroyed. At least I think someone said that. Take for instance I dig up a 1941 cent that has deteriorated to the point that there is nothing on the obverse and nothing on the reverse. That coin is going to weigh the exact as a mint 1941?

 

Are you talking about the coin or the die? They are 2 different things. The die is the metal rod that strikes the coin. That is what I refer to when I say DIE deterioration...the deterioration of the die, not the coin, and that the state of the die has no effect on the weight of the planchet. You are probably referring to a coin that has environmental damage, causing it to corrode and lose some of it's mass. This is possible, but probably unlikely for the coin in this thread as I don't see much evidence of environmental damage.

 

I gotcha...you see what I am saying now. Or I see what you are saying. I am going to call it planchet deterioration. He just likes a few grains of metal to have a cent that is correct weight, and it could have been lost from wear. But if he is looking for brass strikes, shouldn't he be looking for heavy cents? As for this cent your answer sounds better than mine. Rolled thin Planchet.

 

Environmental damage will not only "thin out" a coin, but will make it ring much differently than one that is problem free. I have lots of examples of what you have and they ring at a higher pitch because of the decrease in weight.

 

That sounds like a likely culprit then. Thanks for the info!

 

The cent of that year had a nominal ( gov. specs wt. ) of 3.11 grams and the tolerance allowed was +/- 0.13 grams. The maximum struck weight would be 3.24 grams and the lightest 2.98 grams.

Please do not think I am criticizing you in this next paragraph, but more your balance. It says it has a ,1 gram resolution. This means that there is a rounding function to get that one decimal place. 10% weight deficit would be well under the tolerances.If you haven't used a reference weight to calibrate it recently, it might be off. Please consider having the coin weighed on a different balance. with a better resolution such as a jeweler's or a chemist, pharmacists balance.

I do not feel that it is worn or damaged enough to have that much weight loss, but until we have a verified weight, I would not expect anyone to come up with a good possible answer.

 

I have a 1910 that wouldn't make AG3 on a good day, and that thing weighs 2.9 grams, so I'm thinking your scale needs a battery, if the scale wasn't propped up for this pic.

 

Just weigh a modern newish nickel on the scale for a test should weigh 5 grams

 

I can't say anything about weight...but copper can be hardened in a variety of ways, and a harder coin will ring with a higher note than an as-minted penny.

The process of forming the planchet, and the followed striking of the copper coin would certainly work-harden it. I don't know whether that was offset by intentional annealing at the mint, but I doubt it; too costly, and would degrade wear-resistance. But if a penny were in a house fire, say, and cooled slowly as the ashes protected it, I would expect it to be harder than it was when it left the mint...so it would ring higher.

This is mostly thinking out loud, so for those of you in the know about such things, I'm 'Crossing Your Tee'.

I'm prepared for the broadside salvos I may have invited.

 

wlwhittier spoke it with my style......you go man. I assume that the hardening would drop a coins weight a few grains.

 

All the other coppers weigh 3.0 to 3.2 that I have weighed with the scale. All the nickels have weighed 4.9 to 5.1. All of the zincolns have weighed 2.4 to 2.6. I am guessing maybe rolled thin planchet. It doesn't look like the metal has deteriorated or anything. Thanks for all the input.

 

You most likely have a cent struck on a planchet punched out of rolled-thin stock. Such errors can produce cents as light as 1.4 grams. A weight of 2.6 grams is below tolerances but not enough to excite collector interest.