I've been looking for something inexpensive to base figures on . . . and I wanted steel so that I could use a magnetic base. But I'm in Canada and shipping across borders isn't cheap.
Sure, I could use washers . . . but the hole in the middle makes it awkward.Well tonight I had a stray thought and tried something. I knew that most countries had stopped minting copper pennies because of the rising cost of copper.
So I took a chance and tried a magnet on some Canadian pennies . . . zing! . . . Some of them jumped right to the magnet.
I said some, not all.
All of the nice shiny 2007 and 2008 pennies did, as well as a few earlier ones. I have since learned that Canadian pennies are now supposed to be 94% steel. Supposedly the change-over happened in 2000, but almost all of my pre-2007 pennies were not magnetic (although a few were).
My guess is that they continued using their zinc mixture until the supply (or contracts) ran out. Anyway for those of us in Canada, the newer pennies are now usable with magnetic movement trays . . . and they only cost pennies.
This was a good day.
-- Jeff
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4 comments:
huzzah, quite the discovery, I will have to try US coins.
Morning Jeff,
Cool! Which figures will you use the later minted pennies with? On another note, we need to begin planning our e-re-fight of Sawmill Village. . . but with some cavalry this time.
Best Regards,
Stokes
...a nice moment of discovery...I love when that happens!
I use the UK 1 pence coin for my 'single' foot figure bases. They are just the right size (they also jump onto magnets).
-- Allan
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