after rubbing it a bit every day or so it DID finally look like a regular penny. I used it for a Paul Harris effect from The Art Of Astonishment book one called the ??? Heavy Dime where you circle the penny around a dime 3 times on the table and the spectator cannot pick the dime up. You circle the penny slowly around the dime 3 times again and you can pick it up. Circle the penny slowly again 3 times and they cannot lift it.