None of the American coins are magnetic (ferromagnetic), with the exception of the 1943 Lincoln penny (steel cents made from steel and zinc to preserve copper for ammunition during the war), which are considered magnetic.
None of the American coins are magnetic. Some Canadian, Australian and British coins are magnetic. This is because the United States refrains from using iron and steel in its coinage, while the other peoples may sometimes do so. In general, magnetism in coins is rare, because it eases the task of stealing them.
Canadian coins and pennies issued in 2002 are made of nickel plated steel, so they are also magnetic. Some British coins – 1, 2, 5 and 10 pence coins minted after certain dates – have a magnetic field due to the metal they are made from.
For similar reasons, US pennies (US cents) were once made of copper alloys, but since 1982, they have been made of copper-plated zinc. Copper coins with denominations of 1 pence and 2 pence are traditionally made of bronze alloys of copper, tin, and zinc. Until 1992, coins were made of bronze, which was non-magnetic, so coins were also non-magnetic. However, after 1992, it was decided to use steel to make coins. Now steel coins are magnetic.
Many Coins Are Magnetic
With a strong magnet, you can attach coins to each other and make them dangle. When these magnetic coins are magnetized, they can clump together to form complex towers. By hanging a coin tower under a strong magnet, the coins remain magnetized and continue to stick to each other, and the magnet helps support the stack against gravity. If the stack of coins falls apart before you lower it down to the table, then the magnet is not strong enough – use a stronger magnet or lower the magnet and use a smaller stack of coins.
Take the first coin and stick it on the back of the magnet so that it hangs vertically. Many coins contain nickel and must be magnetic. Magnets will stick to the coin. We provide three matching magnets, so you can test coins of any size.
Like the precious metal test, the magnet will not tell you if the object is made of copper/brass/bronze, but it will tell you it is not. So, if you have a copper coin or silver coin as a magnet, it cannot be silver or bronze, it must be steel. Of course, it is the iron in the steel that makes the coin magnetic.
We are also asked for “silver” cents, which people have found in return. This is usually copper-clad steel that has lost its plating. However, there are many others, even for coins made from precious metals.
Numerous Metals Are Used in Coinage
Metal minting includes, at a minimum, those metallic chemical elements that have historically been used as components in alloys used for minting coins. Coins that are not intended for circulation or intrinsic value have also been experimentally manufactured using an even wider variety of metals as they function like paper money. For example, in India, some coins were made of stainless steel containing 82% iron and 18% chromium, and many other countries that minted coins containing metals that are now nearly equal to the face value of the coin are experimenting with different steel alloys.
The commonly used coins are mainly composed of steel or nickel-plated steel. They are ferromagnetic, so modern coins must be magnetic. The almost ubiquitous small amount of iron in ancient coins gives them remanence characteristics that can be easily measured with a commercial magnetometer. In fact, in our daily lives, only iron, nickel, cobalt, gadolinium, neodymium and samarium are magnetic.
Bronze is an alloy, which is a mixture of copper and tin or nickel; although nickel is magnetic, it is used in a small amount, so bronze is not magnetic, and copper coins are not magnetic. Bronze is a mixture (alloy) composed mainly of copper and about 12% tin, sometimes containing a small amount of nickel (nickel can make it slightly magnetic, but bronze is usually non-magnetic). If a suitable magnet exhibits a diamagnetic effect, it may be a silver object (most likely a coin) or silver on copper. Since copper is non-magnetic and does not contain enough nickel, these coins will not be attracted by magnets.
Non-Ferrous Coins May Appear Identical to Ferrous Ones
Both types have the same color, weight, diameter, and design and circulate together, but the new copper-plated steel coin is attracted by the magnet. The two components have the same weight, diameter, and design, which means that they circulate together, and there is no obvious difference except that the steel core coin is magnetic. So the denominator is steel and iron, so British coins are also magnetic.
Regardless of the country, if coins and nickels are made of steel or nickel, they will be magnetic. If they are made of bronze, silver or copper, then they will not be magnetic.
Some of these elements may theoretically be excellent coins (such as zirconium), but their status as coin metals is unclear. Fake silver or silver-plated objects are usually made of other metals. For example, all coins currently issued in the UK are issued by the Royal Mint, and only these coins can be used legally.
On the Coins of the Royal Mint
Perhaps the magnetic signature of British coins could be detected by coin acceptors, preventing people from using counterfeits or snails. Many other currencies, including the Canadian dollars, Argentine centavos and the EU euro, are magnetic too, but the bottom line is that magnetic coins don’t seem to have any definite advantages beyond some rather ingenious tricks. First, you need to find some magnetic coins containing iron or nickel. Before we get into the details, the reason the subsequent coins – we’ll get to dates soon – are magnetic is because the decision was made to change the base metals used to make coins.
In short, the composition of the 1 pence and 2 pence coins was changed from bronze to copper-plated steel in 1992, and the composition of the 5 pence and 10 pence coins was changed from nickel-plated steel to nickel-plated steel in 2011. For the cost of base metals, especially copper, the Royal Mint decided to change the composition of the 1 penny and 2 penny coins to a mixture of copper-plated steel, the core of which contains iron. Since January 2012, 5 pence and 10 pence silver coins have also been made of galvanized steel, which in turn makes them magnetic. For other coins, such as 20ps and 50ps, their composition is 75% copper and 25% nickel.
In the absence of magnetic coins, the steel washers can be replaced, but the edges are usually not flat like coins and tend to be out of balance.
You can hang a few coins, but after the second or third time, they won’t stick. Steel is magnetic, so coins made after 1992 will be attracted by magnets when approaching them. Until 1992, coins were made of copper and zinc, both of which were non-magnetic. The idea of steel coins was born during the Second World War and they began to make steel coins. These early coins were made of electrons, a natural mixture of pale yellow gold and silver, which is further related to silver and copper.
