I have a couple of nice shiny 1943 steel pennies that I bought here and there from different dealers. However, the more I read about 1943 steel pennies, the more suspect I get about the pennies I own. Would you guys say that most nice-looking 1943 steel pennies have been altered in some way... so as to keep that look? Chrome plating? Some kind of cleaning solution? Something else? How can I be sure that my 1943 steel pennies has been unaltered?
I think that the vast majority of steel cents have not been altered. They are abundant and not worth a lot of money, so usually, there really isn't an incentive to mess with them.
But from what I've been reading, most 1943 steel pennies ended up looking crummy shortly after the Mint made them. From what I'm reading, that's why the Mint decided to not continue to use steel to make the pennies after 1943. But, you often see really nice shiny 1943 steel pennies at coin shows, coin shops, and online... maybe $6 for a P-D-S set. So, if they are altering them... as long as whatever they are doing does not cost too much... maybe a $1 a set, they are making a pretty good profit over the long haul. I'm not against a good profit... but just want to make sure that my pennies are unaltered.
Good question and I heard about the same thing. I heard a lot of them are processed in some way. How to you tell the ones that were processed? Do they loose the mint luster and cartwheel effect - my guess. And exactly what did they mean by "processed"? I have never really been into these, but am curious.
Most 1943 cents with shiny surfaces have been "reprocessed". "Reprocessed" means replated with zinc. They look very nice but have lost their numismatic value. An uncirculated 1943 cent with original surfaces generally displays a matte finish. See here:
I'll have to disagree with that. I used to see quantities of original rolls of steel cents. And the coins displayed what I would call lustrous surfaces, not matte surfaces. Many of the original coins end up acquiring spots, but the fact that they are still lustrous doesn't necessarily mean they have been altered.
Thanks kanga for the insight!! Can you post a reprocessed one as well... just as a comparison! Thanks!
I don't have one, so you're out of luck there. The ones I've seen look like proof coins. BTW, the one I showed is a PCGS MS-66. And pay attention to what Mark Feld said.
I've seen a few reprocessed 43's and if you look at the date under high magnification you will see it almost looks like some kind of doubling on the date and mint mark. Ice
I agree that there are lots of these out there that look nice and that haven't been messed with. Here's my example of one that is originally nice PCGS MS67
NGC has certified more than 16,000 1943 steel cents and PCGS, an additional 17,000+. Obviously, those figures don't include the large quantities of uncertified pieces which also exist, many of which have not been processed.
One thing you can do is look at the edge of the coin. The steel cents were struck on planchets that were punched from zinc plated steel strip so the zinc plating is NOT on the edge of the coins. If you look at the edges it is possible to see the different layers. The reprocessed cents have the plating over the entire surface of the coin and the layers won't be seen on the edge.
Beautiful pennies guys. I've read that is a 1943 penny looks too shiny as if it had a mirror/polished finish to it, it most likely was altered in some way. kanga has a very good example of what I would call a very natural 1943. And so do the rest of the guys with certified coins.
Like mentioned, it was common to having a missing (or "ghost) 4 on the date. But what isn't all that common is the mint mark also having the same affect as you can see on my one.
