1941 Steel? Lincoln cent. Magnetic. 3.22 grams 1 1

[Mike Willyard]

So I got this out of a old box of coins in beat up dirty flips. Of course I'm like here is another somebody's experiment. Nice coin.. no rust, unaltered date IMO. But the fool thing is magnetic. It is NOT as magnetic as a 1943 steel coin. So even the damage is "silver". no copper showing through. So could this be a foreign planchette? I have no knowledge of who was making what for whom in 41.  Can you make a copper penny magnetic? I love finding wierdo stuff. Most the time I can figure it out.... Or is this an old counterfeit?.. I have no idea why they would... Thanks ahead of time for your responses. 

 

P.S. I'm ok with smartass answers. Have fun!

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

Looks plated to me.  The toning could be copper peeking through under the plating.

[Coinbuf]

Plated, mercury plating was done often in schools for chemistry class.   Nickel plating is another possibility as the guys that work in chrome plating shops love to have some fun and nickel has a weak attraction for a magnet.   As Neo suggested whatever was used to plate the coin has begun to wear off over time.

[Greenstang]

Lots of mottling and flow marks showing. If it is partly magnetic, it was probably plated with nickel.

[Mike Willyard]

Picture looks more toned than real life... And I'm completely golden with plated, but would that be magnetic

[Mike Willyard]

Because I worked in a plating shop years ago.... I looked for some telltale signs and found these on the edge/rim directly across from each other. Where 2 prongs apparently we're holding the penny for plating. And if you say nickel would be magnetic then that would make sense too. Cause it gets nickel plated before chroming. That sounds like an answer to me!

 

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

Bingo.  You got it now.

[Just Bob]

Thank you for those pictures of the tiny indentations. I have never done any plating myself, so I did not know what to look for. Learned something new today.