Is this 1943 steel penny worth grading?

There's a huge difference between the look of polished, shinned up, cleaned, plated coins compared to how an untouched coin looks. In due time you will develop an eye that can see the difference. One give away is when a coin shows lots of circulation wear but is totally shinny from being plated or cleaned. Another one is when the space right next to lettering on coins is dull or dirty but the high points of the coin are all shinny clean. Those are a few of the dead giveaways to me when I see such.

Reference when we were kids, using a pencil eraser to shine pennies up really good. Better yet, remember when ink pens had erasers? Those erasers had tiny bits of sand embedded in them. Those did a real number on coins.

 

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Most all banks do not roll their own coins. That would mean they have to have and maintain coin counting machines, have wrapping material and equipment, have an employee to maintain and secure the process, etc. They instead depend on companies such as Loomis, LaGuardia, etc. to supply them ( for a fee) with rolls for local companies and banks. My local bank has stopped providing rolled coins except for merchant accounts. Over the years collectors have grown in numbers and caused them more "problems" as some get the box and then return to dump them in the bank and the bank stops all except the real merchants or old time members. It isn't fair for the bank and the owners and their merchants.
Also watch out for phony reprints of old bank wrappers made to look like those of the very early years of collecting. A few companies imitate them and then run them over rough sandpaper enough to make them "aged" even though the coins have been pre searched. Only buy them from a trusted member or friends/family.

Jim

 

Welcome to CT @Minanius.
The learning curve for determining things like if a coin has been cleaned, can be steep one, but time and experience will pay off.
Your expenditure for the roll of cents was a good learning experience. In my opinion, finding an old "original" roll, with "unsearched" coins is about the same odds as winning the lottery.
As for "steel pennies," I don't think ANY zinc coated 1943 cent is worth the cost to have it graded and slabbed. I have over 600 of them, and wouldn't spend the money to send even one in.
Keep studying, looking, and learning.
Good luck.

 

Time and experience is the only way I can tell you how to spot a cleaned coin from one that's been untouched. You will eventually develop that skill if you stay in this hobby long enough. I can always tell by the patina or surface of the coin, the way it looks to me.

 

Trust what these guys say. They are upfront with you. Just be careful with buying until you learn more. As one said, I found a 1943 which was worn and boy I thought I had something. It is exciting to find. Keep searching. This one was just gifted to me from @Mountain Man. A gift worth a million, to me anyway. Good luck! Posted a better pic.






https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/440/small-cents/lincoln-wheat-cent/1943-P/steel-cent/

 

With the '43 cents , remember that the coin blanks were punched out of a steel sheet that had been zinc plated. So any 1943 cent where the edges are 'shining' have been replated and thus altered. If they have a dull steel gray on the edge, they are original. Many are so treated for online sales such as Ebay, Etsy, etc.

Jim

 

Sorry, not even close.

Here is the one in my type set. It's graded MS-66. It would not be worth grading today. I paid $25 for it, to fill the hole, 20 years ago. That price was too high then.

 

Looks nice!

 

Those are good for ancient coins...

 

Consider the cost. I bought all 3 of these for under $80 for the set, not each.

Z

 

My father collected a lot of 1943 "steel" cents. Most are 1943 (P), 1943 D. I have about 20 of the 1943 S cents. Any idea if there is any way to set them all up together? They are all nice. My father started collecting them when he was about 15 in 1940, then continued until the day of his death on his 71st birthday. (It's kind of macabre to think of my father dying. I'm 75 and four years older than he was when he died. The difference is that he was in WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam. I only had Vietnam and I didn't go there. The Army found out that I could type over 60 words per minute. I was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's Staff Judge Advocate's office after I finished Jump School at Benning.
Anyway, I must have over 100 steel cents. My brother got another 100.

 

Littleton used to have 1943 cents that were advertised as replated or whatever word(s) they used to describe it. They were or are overpriced, but a good place to look at known replated steel cents.

 

I’ve seen them called replated or reprocessed. They are overpriced. One of the local coin shops near me sells 1943 steel cents from all three mints 6 for $1.00. Get them any way you want them. Your choice. Replated, original but worn, rusted, etc. He had them all. I have found some very nice original coins in that box of his and at seventeen cents each, it’s a bargain.