Hi everyone. I recently found an S mint 1954 Wheat Penny. The only catch is that it is made out of either steel or silver. I didn't think much of it when I obtained it (I work at a grocery store) since I believed it was just another 1943 penny from the war. I can't find any record of steel being used for penny's other than 1943-46. The coin does seem to have some sort of copper color on the relief parts so I don't know, this might just a be fraud. How rare is this thing? I'm not really a coin collector at all and I just recently joined this forum to get some answers. Thanks.
Did pass the magnet test? A lot of coins were fiddled with in school projects to turn them gold or silver in color. I'm going to suspect this is one of them.
yea and whoever did that in school should get a D-. you can clearly see the copper still. try a magnet if you want, but 99.9% sure its been messed with. i got a ton of them that people keep finding and want me to look at, thinking they won the lottery. i hate giving bad news, but there not worth more then what they say on the back..
It looks to me like someone dipped it, probably in mercury, and then someone tried to scrub it off. As already suggested, see if it sticks to a magnet. If it is copper, it won't stick. Chris PS. Welcome to the neighborhood.
for the op and me... if infact it is dipped in mercury, is it safe to be handling?? i ask because i treat the ones i have as if they are lepers. it was actually funny to watch me transfer them to an air tight container:rolling:.
I wouldn't want a baby or toddler to be handling one, because they always like to put their fingers in their mouth. Chris
I used to do this all the time as a kid: silver Tester's model airplane paint. There are probably still quite a few floating around out there in other colors that I used as well.
Contrary to popular opinion, yes these things are fairly safe. I wouldn't chew on it, suck on it like a candy, swallow it, or hang around in an unventalated room with it while someone was heating it to drive off the mercury. Casual handling? probably just fine. (Since mercury tends to affect the nervous system, especially developing systems you might want to avoid handing it if you are a baby or very small child. If you are an adult you have probably killed many more brain cells with alcohol than you will playing with a mercury coated coin.)
I found a 1954 steel penny ( got it from work) and it sticks to a magnet I work with money all day I noticed the difference right away took the penny and put another one from my pocket in its place help can't find nothing on it on the web
All I know about money is u spend it lol I just know my grandfather who past who fought in ww2 always talked about steel Penny's but this can't be a ww2 penny the year ain't right but passed the test wth kinda penny is it.
OK, no more sarcasm. Many cents turn up here that are "silver" or "iron" color, but they seem to be plated, usually with zinc. The photo is so fuzzy, about all that can be seen is a silvery color coin that appears to be a cent. Bear in mind that no other of these have been reported (AFAIK) but it could still be something worthwhile. You do need to take it to a coin dealer and have them to look at it. Before that, you could try and take some more pictures (both sides) that are more focused and see if we can give you any help. The weight would be helpful too. If nothing else, balance a ruler on a pencil and put your coin on one side and a "normal" cent on the other to see if they balance or if one is heavier.
Typical question, how magnetic is it? Will a magnet barely pick it up, or will it JUMP to the magnet. Is it the same magnetic attraction all over or it it stonger in someplaces than others? 99.9% of discoveries like this are either plated, or plated cents in a steel bezel.
