US cents made since 1983 are zinc with a very thin copper plating. If it was minted on a planchet without the plating, it would be worth a few dollars. But a quick dip in a mild acid can remove the copper. It could also have been electroplated. Back in the 60's my high school chemistry class made a lot of copper dimes and silver pennies.
AnswerI also have a silver 1988 penny. I could believe the high school chemistry class experiment but all the info I've come across about people having silver pennies always seems to be the same year, 1988. It just seems to coincidental to me. Are these coins rare and nobody knows it or is every penny that happened to be electroplated in high school from 1988? AnswerIt is also possible that the coin was never plated to begin with. If a bunch of planchets did not go through the copper plating barrel they would have been struck in pure zinc. AnswerI thought that was odd too! I've seen a few stories specifically about 1988D, and mine is 1988D also. I got it when I was delivering Pizza, but I collect weird coins so I held onto it. It doesn't look like acid's eaten it away or anything, it's also scratched in two places with silver color inside the coin as well. The outside of the coin seems like a dark metallic grey.
a penny has a hardness of 3 depending on what it is being scratched on.
You put zinc and sodium hydroxide in to a beaker over a really hot hot plate. Pick it up with tongs after 3 minutes. Rinse it of in water then hold it over a fire then rinse it of again in water and it should be gold.
Centimeter is to meter as a penny is to 1$
An unoffical penny made to honor the moon landing
yes, the penny will be shiny if you cleaned it with vinegar
no
no
No
nickel
nickel
a penny has a hardness of 3 depending on what it is being scratched on.
A topaz
Topaz,Calcite Cooprarte
Calcium
The US mint never made cents out of silver. Most likely your coin has post-mint damage such as silver or chrome plating that makes your coin appear silver.
minearls
No, there is no silver in a 1817 US penny.