Hey all. Found this penny in my change. I see lots of damage of course but Im seeing some kind of doubling around the date and devices. I see it on the 1943. The 3 has something going on. I am not good enough with this to tell if its machine doubling or not. My camera is not real good so I am sorry for that. There appears to be the strongest possibility on the post of the "4" and on the outside of the 3. I am also seeing what looks like the very top of the 3 doubles on the very tip to the inside of it. thoughts???
That coin looks as though it has been reprocessed. When that happens, you can sometimes see stuff like what is on your coin.
What does the edge look like? I ask because it looks replated and if they don't clean the crud off of the old coin ( especially near crevices and letters) it looks like doubling. If it is reprocessed , the edge will be the same color as the obv/rev, if rusty ( as the steel was exposed on the edge) or dull grey it wasn't reprocessed ( plated).
I cant get a picture worth a crud of the edge. It looks to me to be the same color and "texture" as the rest of the penny. What does "reprocessed mean"? Putting the penny in a press again somehow?
Yes.. Google 1943 Steel Cent and you will find all the information about it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_steel_cent By the way.. It is not a DDO you have there.
1943 was a zinc plated steel coin made by the U.S. Mint. But companies like Littleton Coin Co. re-plated these after the original zinc wore off and sold them in sets and sometime gave them away as an incentive to buy other coins. If they were not cleaned properly before re-plating them they would look like doubling.
Thank you Tommy and the rest. Learned something new. Surprised the Gov was "OK" with this type of thing. You'd think they wouldnt want peeps messing with their coins in any way shape or form.
Sorry, I should have elaborated. It was common to re-plate as they were very unusual coins for the US. It is illegal to melt 1 cent and 5 cent coins for their metal value, but not 10 cent on up. It is also not against the law to alter a coin unless you are trying to change the value of a coin ( such as the V nickel from 5 cents to 5 dollar gold piece).
