1943 Steel Cent - Double Struck/Adjused Die? 0

[VietMedic6869]

Yes, I'm a Newbie here on NGC.  Yes, I read all four sections before posting this question. 

I won this at auction on the Bay and would like to know opinions on what this is.  I couldn't find anything comparable to it on the Bay or anywhere else.

I don't have the coin in hand yet so can only post images from the auction. 

I'll probably send the coin to John Wexler for evaluation and hopefully get it in a holder (NGC? or ANACS)

Your opinions will be much  appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[J P M]

On 8/20/2022 at 4:59 PM, VietMedic6869 said:

Yes, I'm a Newbie here on NGC.  Yes, I read all four sections before posting this question. 

I won this at auction on the Bay and would like to know opinions on what this is.  I couldn't find anything comparable to it on the Bay or anywhere else.

I don't have the coin in hand yet so can only post images from the auction. 

I'll probably send the coin to John Wexler for evaluation and hopefully get it in a holder (NGC? or ANACS)

Your opinions will be much  appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

 

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Sorry, but I have to say it looks like it is plated.

[VietMedic6869]

On 8/20/2022 at 7:57 PM, J P Mashoke said:

Sorry, but I have to say it looks like it is plated.

That thought crossed my mind.  Maybe the coin and the doubling, etc., were original and someone had it plated later on?

I should have the coin by the end of this week.  If plated, I'll be returning it.  There was a lot of fierce bidding on it.  The dealer said he had a hard time taking images as the coin surfaces were so bright. 

I'll update the thread when I get it.

Thanks for your opinion, JP.

Bob

[J P M]

On 8/20/2022 at 8:13 PM, VietMedic6869 said:

That thought crossed my mind.  Maybe the coin and the doubling, etc., were original and someone had it plated later on?

I should have the coin by the end of this week.  If plated, I'll be returning it.  There was a lot of fierce bidding on it.  The dealer said he had a hard time taking images as the coin surfaces were so bright. 

I'll update the thread when I get it.

Thanks for your opinion, JP.

Bob

Good luck ,and welcome to the forum

[RWB]

It is an altered and plated piece of junk. If the "dealer" can't recognize common plating of 1943 cents, he/she has no business selling coins to anyone.

[Oldhoopster]

A normal 1943 cent does not have that shiny appearance.  You find that on replated/reprocessed coins.

This coin is not an error.  It has none of the characteristics of a double struck error.  You can confirm that by looking at the reverse.  I'd be willing to bet that the reverse is normal with no evidence of a second strike.  Since that can't happen during the minting process, it can't be double struck

Sorry for the bad news, but I would suggest returning the coin.  The seller either has very little knowledge of numismatics and the minting process or is just trying to cheat new collectors.

[Sandon]

    While there are reputable coin dealers who sell items through eBay, many of the other sellers are not knowledgeable, and some may be knowingly or unknowingly offering overgraded, impaired, altered or counterfeit material.  Unless you are an experienced and knowledgeable collector, in my opinion it's too risky to buy coins through that site, except from otherwise well-known dealers.

   Although I'm not an expert on mint errors, I have seen pictures of coins with "extra letters" that resulted from a piece of struck scrap metal lying between a die and the blank from which that coin was struck. Such letters are usually incuse and backwards, nothing like the clear, straight "IBE" or the lighter "TRUST".  It doesn't look like a legitimate double strike either, as only some parts are doubled, and none of the lettering or devices appears to have been crushed by the second strike. Based on the artificial (plated or otherwise altered) appearing surfaces, it's likely a concoction made outside the mint.  It's nevertheless difficult to come to a conclusion from these photos.  You would have to show the actual coin to an expert for a thorough opinion. 

[VietMedic6869]

The dealer refunded my money.  He was going to send to ANACS to see if it is genuine or not and let me know the outcome. 

[JKK]

There are three questions here, and a resultant question.

Is that a real error with extra LIBERTY letters? Hard to say. That could have been faked. I'm having a pretty hard time imagining how the mint could have done that, but maybe I just don't know all the ways the mint can f-bomb up a coin.

Is the coin authentic? Probably (at least in original form). But...

Is the coin altered? It is certainly replated. If someone tried to fake up a mint error, I can see them replating it to help cover up the traces.

Therefore:

Is the coin something you'd want to put any energy and money into? Nope nope nope.

So you did right by having the dealer retain it, given that he obviously is clueless about these coins. This coin should have set off multiple red flags in any dealer's first examination, and he definitely had zero business actually putting it up for auction unless he labeled it as replated. If he doesn't know how to tell that a steelie has been replated (very common), he needs to stop selling them until he knows more about his merch than his customers.

[VietMedic6869]

I agree with everything you mentioned.  However, I would replace the term "dealer" with "seller" as he didn't have a lot of coin sales per se.  In his listing, he even admitted he had no idea what the coin was, if it was double struck or die adjustment.  It belonged to his deceased Uncle and he wound up with it.  In essence, he would not be a seasoned veteran as are many of the people on this thread. I had excellent communication with him and find, at least as much as I can, that was honest and up-front with me.

I'm sure the experts on the forum can understand that not every eBay seller is at their level.  At least they should be.

I think this thread has beat the proverbial dead horse and should be closed.