1943 Zinc Coated Steel Cents

[rbrown4]

My neighbor brought a set of three 1943 Zinc Coated Cents over to me today to look at. There is one each of the mint maks D,P and S. To me they just don't look right but I may be seeing something that is normal for these. To me they seem too bright and shiny. There is also a light rainbowish mostly blue "toning" if you will when the coins are tilted just right. Is this normal for these or is it possible that someone has artifically coated these with something. Here is one of the obverse and reverse.

 

Thanks,

 

Rey

 

 

[MunkyMan95]

They look reprocessed. People (companies) will do this, if they want them to look REALLY good in their sets.

[rbrown4]

Chad,

 

Is there a good way to check this? What could he use to see if this is a coating added "after the fact".

 

Thanks,

 

Rey

[MunkyMan95]

Get a "real" 1943 cent, and place it next to these, and you'll see a drastic difference.

[TomB]

They've been reprocessed as Chad has mentioned. No steel cent will have that amount of shine on it along with that amount of wear. Reprocessed steel cents were made in amazingly large numbers over the years and may still be bought in three-packs containing one from each mint. If you've ever seen an original steel cent, you will be able to pick out a reprocessed cent easily. They are worth very little, perhaps a few cents each.

[rbrown4]

Thank you for the responses. I showed him the three that are in my Lincoln Cent Album, all three of which are of course obviously "in the rough" so to speak. After Chad used the term reprocessed I did some searches on the web and sure enough as you say, this was done quite a bit. I will let my neighbor know that he basically has three pennies that are real shiny but that is it.

 

Thank you,

 

Rey

[physics-fan3.14]

What do you mean by reprocessed? They had another layer of zinc added? Or what?

[rbrown4]

Apparently yes, they way I understand it reprocessed just means that they have been replated with a layer of zinc to give them a nice shiny surface again. A real cent will have a nice luster while a reprocessed one will just be shiny.

 

Rey

[James_OldeTowne]

These are classic examples of "reprocessed steel cents". They are circulated steel cents that have been acid-washed (to remove rust and remnants of the zinc), and then replated.