Can you ID this part?

[Steve Jelf]

This probably won't take long.

[RajoRacer]

Remnants of the radius rod ball cap shim ?

[Trentb]

It looks like the remains of a shim used on the front radius rod ball socket to take up slack resulting from excessive wear of the ball and socket. There was also a smaller version used in the drag link ball sockets.

Respectfully submitted,

Trent Boggess

[dlmyers]

An abused coin of the realm?

[hpetrino]

I agree with Steve T. and Trent. That's what it looks like to me too. Where'd you find it?

[Steve Jelf]

I was right. It didn't take long. From a wishbone cap. This is the "before" version.

[Rich Eagle]

I knew someone would make cents of it.

[Ruxstel24]

Looks a little worse than the ones I put on the train tracks when I was a kid.

[TFan]

Maybe you should have used a steel penny Steve, it would have been more period correct. Jim

[Rich Bingham]

For what it's worth, the "steel" penny (1942) was zinc. The few that were in circulation 15-20 years turned black, reaction to sweat and acids on folks' hands. They pretty much self-destructed.

[Steve Jelf]

...the "steel" penny (1942) was zinc.

Nope. The year was 1943. To save copper for the war effort, cents were made of zinc-coated steel. You can look it up. The reason you don't see them in circulation is that they found their way into people's coin collections, just like other coins of the era. The ones I have are 75 years old (of course) and haven't self-destructed yet.

475px-NNC-US-1943-1C-Lincoln_Cent_(wheat,_zinc-coated_steel).jpg (32.62 KiB) Viewed 1696 times

[Rich Bingham]

Thanks Steve, I appreciate the correction. Everything I know is wrong !!

[Mark Osterman]

Funny, I just photographed this for my Anatomy series. This is what remains from an English penny, my coin of choice for the radius rod shim. It fell into several very thin pieces.

[twrenn]

Looks a little worse than the ones I put on the train tracks when I was a kid.

Hey! I used to do that too with a friend of mine when we were kids. Heck, we're still kids!!

[signsup]

I carry a roll of steelies in the glove box of my WWII jeep. During displays and talks, if a small child shows intrest , after getting permission for the parent, I will give the child a steel penny and explain their origin. Child is amazed. Parent is amazed. It's
Most enjoyment I can get for a penny.

[TRDxB2]

Bob, before you give anymore "steelies" away check to see if they are magnetic. If not you got a $$$$$ Two mistakes were made one on a dime planchet (silver) $10K and the other on a bronze one $1000K.