Are Silver One Cent Pennies Rare?

by Kari Thomas
(Prescott, AZ)

Question: I have a Lincoln/Lincoln Memorial Building 1959 One Cent Penny, without D or P. It is SILVER coated (looks like a dime) on both sides, and you can tell along the rim there is part copper, part silver.

Could this be a rare coin?

THANK YOU for any help.
Kari Thomas

My Answer: The penny you describe did not come from the mint in silver. I would suspect that someone has coated it with something silver color or maybe actual silver, who knows.

The only penny or one cent coin to come from the United States Mint in a silvery color was the 1943 Zinc-coated Steel Penny.

It is possible that your penny was coated in a very thin coating of silver and sold or given away as a novelty item, perhaps a store opening or something of that nature. Sometimes private mints will do this, such as with the gold plated quarters.

The silver coating the coin (if it is silver) is probably so thin that it does not even increase the intrinsic value (i.e. the value of the precious metal in a coin).

Serious coin collectors only want coins that have not been altered in any way. They want them just the way they came from the mint.