1943 Steel Penny No Mint Mark, weird plating issue? 1 1

[tonyrocks]

I'm glad I found this forum because I had a question about this penny that has been sitting in an old box in my house forever.  I think it may have been part of a collection of items a relative had collected because they thought they were worth more than what they really were (I've thrown away plates, special mint marked coins, half dollars, you name it)... Anyways I've been reading more on these steel pennies and figured I'd reach out for some info.  It was in a plastic covering and I tried to take a picture of it, but I thought the plastic was giving off weird reflections and whatever. 

I figured I'd take it out of the plastic case and post some pictures.  Once removed, it doesn't look as cool as I thought it would.  Some of my observations: 

• Look at the weird "discoloring" of the face, is this this re-plated stuff I've read about?
• How about the grading of this? Honestly it looked more "less circulated" before I took it out of the case
• I can't tell if there are any defects on it, what do you think?

So, my question of course would be is it worth anything more than a penny? 

Thanks!

 

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the Chat Box

What you see is the zinc plating worn off the Steel core.      
With  that amount of wear, it might be worth about 25 cents

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum.   Do you have any photos of the rim by chance?   Looking at the rim can help to decipher what's happening, your coin doesn't look plated (perhaps painted) as those are usually very shiny, and your coin looks dull in the photos.   The dark areas of the face and coat are where the rusted steel is showing from either the original zinc coating (or if it was painted) having been worn off from circulation wear.

The coin has seen circulation wear for sure and in this condition is not worth more than 5 to 10 cents at best.   Sorry the news is not better, it's still a very cool coin for someone that is filling an album or coin folder, just not valuable.

[Sandon]

    Welcome to the NGC chat board.

    Based on the images that you provided, your coin appears to be a normal 1943 cent that is lightly circulated (Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated condition). These coins are composed of low-grade steel that was coated with zinc and were bright when new, but the zinc coating quickly darkened when handled and wore off the high points as the coins circulated, which is why I think the high points on the obverse ("heads" side) of your coin are a different color. Your coin has no mintmark, meaning that it was made at the Philadelphia mint, with a reported mintage of 684,628,670 pieces, so it is a very common coin. Its retail (dealer sell) value in its current condition is at most forty to fifty cents. Only pristine uncirculated pieces (not replated) have values of several dollars or even much more, depending on their quality, which means a great deal to present day coin collectors.

   Replated pieces are unnaturally shiny, including their edges, which are normally dull because the edge was not zinc coated. It is possible that your coin was replated and then became dull, so you should check its edge. Given its low value even if original, this makes very little difference in this case.

   FYI, here are images of a Gem Uncirculated example (graded MS 66 by PCGS) that cost me $50:

 

Edited Friday at 06:31 PM by Sandon

[tonyrocks]

Thanks everybody for your prompt responses.  Lots of good information and it really answered all my questions.  I kind of expected this so I'm not too sad about it   Thanks again everyone!

-Tony

 

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

On 10/25/2024 at 12:44 PM, tonyrocks said:

(I've thrown away plates, special mint marked coins, half dollars, you name it)...

Are you telling me you have thrown special coins and half dollars into the trash can?????  

[tonyrocks]

On 10/25/2024 at 3:24 PM, powermad5000 said:

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Are you telling me you have thrown special coins and half dollars into the trash can?????  

LOL, no, please forgive me, I didn't mean that I literally threw them away, I just kinda put them back in the box - o - stuff HEHE.

[powermad5000]

On 10/25/2024 at 2:27 PM, tonyrocks said:

LOL, no, please forgive me, I didn't mean that I literally threw them away, I just kinda put them back in the box - o - stuff HEHE.

Ok. Thanks. It was just how that read that had me wondering. 

[Henri Charriere]

On 10/25/2024 at 3:24 PM, powermad5000 said:

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Are you telling me you have thrown special coins and half dollars into the trash can?????  

Exactly my thought!  I cannot believe my colleague @Greenstang   glossed over this monumental catastrophy and calmly voulunteered an offer of a paltry 25-cents for this coin.

Question for @Sandon ...  Enough of these coins were minted to provide every man, wman, child and migrant with one.  Tell me, how many have you come across in change, whatever their m/m or "surface preservation.  I only bring this up because 107,000,000 million 🐓  (you read that right) were minted, but only half are accounted for.  The Parisiens stubbornly list their values at 1/3 of what I paid for them. There is a pronounced disconnect in the Universe for these things.