I have several of these, this one being best condition. 1943, no mint strike I see, seems to be steel?? Let me know you coin experts!!
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/33970/hobbies/the_history_of_the_1943_steel_cent.html All cents in 1943 were made from steel & zinc coated. (with the exception of a few VERY valuable off metal pieces that should not have been struck)
Might be your photos, but the 4 looks very weak. So to answer your question, copper was in short supply during ww2, because it was being used in munitions. So uncle sam made a steel cent and coated it with zinc.
Hard to say. The only thing I can say is for some reason different areas of coins tend to become "magnets" for grease fills. On DE quarters the last E of STATE tends to disappear, the mintmark of NH quarters commonly fills, the last E of INDEPENDENCE on the bicentennial half is frequently missing an the 4 on 1943 cents is often weak or missing. Each issue or year of a series seems to have it's own favorite spot for grease fills.
I've noticed the area around the date on Roosevelt dimes is often weak as well. Same reason I suppose?
