Question about coins found in father's belongings

My dad passed in October of 2016 and i retrieved a few thing from his house and kept them in my closet, in his old brief case that I found in his storage shed from his days of working for NASA(35 yrs), I finally got myself to start sorting through his things, I found that the case was water damaged and the papers inside were too. Its contained his military papers and his purple heart, patches from every shuttle that he worked on and an old sealed white envelope, In it were 4 tarnished Morgan silver dollars and several tarnished wheat pennies. I called my uncle to see if he knew anything about the coins and he said my dad had received them when my grandfather passed in 1984 at the same time my uncle had received a sterling pocket watch the my great grand father had gotten when he retired.
Any way I found info on the Morgans and gave my 2 sons each one.
I am far from a coin expert or never really had any interest in them. One of the wheat pennies appears to be a 1944 steel penny(yes ive read they are very very rare, no interest in ripping anyone off, but how do the grading companies work? Ive seen most charge a fee plus a 1% charge of coins value. My question is when do you have to pay the 1%?
I'd like to have it graded and authenticated , but I'm not rich and don't want to have money tied up if its not real. I want to auction it if real and make a donation in my Dad's name to the American heart association.

It is magnetic and I'll post pictures shortly.
Please dont be rude, I am totally in the dark

 

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The coin could be plated. Better photos will be needed to help you.
Welcome to CT.

 

See if the 1944 sticks to a magnet.

 

Two questions:

What region of the country are you in? (General only - NO specifics!)

Are you in a hurry?

Here's why I ask - IN THE EVENT this is a real steel 1944, it may pay you to personally bring it to a major show in your area for experts to examine. If I had one, that's the ONLY way I'd handle it.

 

Texas, it is magnetic, it jumps and sticks to the magnet

 

Texas? GREAT! If you can wait, bring it to the Irving Convention Center near Dallas from March 8-10. The Spring ANA National Money Show is there, and ALL the top experts in the field will be as well. Not ONLY might you get it graded for free if it's the real deal, you'll be written up in all the trade publications, while keeping your personal security safe.

 

will do

 

If it isn't some kind of alteration, the top two grading companies will COMPETE for the honor of grading it.

 

Is there a way besides the magnet to tell if it’s real?

 

Do you have access to a VERY accurate scale, like to a tenth or hundredth of a gram?

 

I do have one I used to weight things out on while on a diet

 

Probably not accurate enough but I can't know for sure.

 

If it sticks to a magnet, it is real enough to take to the experts.

 

In the meantime (in between time, ain't we got fun?), read this website:

https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/1944-steel-penny/

Some of the accepted diagnostics are there. When you get to Irving, one of the first people to see (and expect to see several) is the guy who has the stand marked "Angel Dee's". When I have a major important cent to handle, I go there first. He is a cent and nickel, mostly cent, specialist.

 

Don't even attempt to clean anything off of any of them before you take them.

 

Kurt ,

That just made me stress,

 

If you want a personal introduction to ANYONE, I will be at EITHER the message center or the Kid's Zone. Ask where Kurt is.

BE COOL! Just remind me about the "funny penny" on CoinTalk in early January.

 

It jumped off the table and stuck hard

 

With a coin this rare and desirable, exact condition is less important. A point one way or the other will be minor. That new pic is encouraging.