Coins and similarly disc-shaped articles

Claim 1

A blank suitable for minting into a coin or similarly disc-shaped article comprising a disc-shaped steel core, an intermediate metal coating electroplated on and encasing the core, said intermediate metal being selected from the group consisting of nickel and zinc, and said intermediate metal coating having a thickness of at least about 0.005 mm on each opposed face of the core and a thickness on the peripheral edge of the core measured radially in the range of from about 2 to about 4 times the face thickness, and a copper coating electroplated on and encasing the intermediate coating and core, the copper coating having a thickness of at least about 0.05 mm on each opposed face of the core and a thickness on the peripheral edge of the core measured radially in the range of from about 2 to about 4 times the face thickness, the intermediate metal coating being metallurgically bonded to the core by a layer of interdiffused intermediate metal and steel, the copper coating being metallurgically bonded to the intermediate metal coating by a layer of interdiffused copper and intermediate metal, and the hardness of the steel core being less than about 65 on the Rockwell 30T hardness scale.