This may have been covered several times so I apologize in advance if this is a repeat question.
I have noticed a few things in sorting through wheat pennies.
Every once in a while I'll find a 30's wheat that appears to have the same finish and color as a polished 1943 steel penny.
Also I notice a lot of wheats that have the top layer of copper chemically treated to reveal a really crappy bright copper look. Or that's what it appears to be.
I know someone had talking about Mercury being used at one time to enhance or chemically alter pennies.
Any help would be appreciated. I put them in my cull pile for now.
When I was a kid we used to clean copper pennies with salt and vinegar, messed up some old copper coins my dad had given me that way. They ended up bright but crappy looking as you describe, but if you don't rinse them properly they turn green.
Penny treatments over the years
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Posted - 02/16/2009 : 17:56:35
