I was going through the foreign coins at my LCS and this steel penny was in there. He let me have it for 10 cents. I thought it was in pretty good condition for a steel penny. Best one I’ve seen in awhile anyway. Just sharing.
Your post reminded me of a question I've always wanted to ask. So far, I've received 3 reprocessed 1943 steel cents - each gotten for free from Littleton. When I look at each of them, the details are very sharp. Wouldn't that mean that the cent (before it was reprocessed) was in a very high grade condition? If so, why would they go and re-plate it? Wouldn't the original high grade UNprocessed steel cent be worth more than a shiny REprocessed steel cent that they are giving away for free?
Yes, it is likely that high grade coins get reprocessed, and yes, you're also right that they'd be worth more if NOT reprocessed, but who's to say what their surfaces were like before they got the treatment? Maybe they had sharp details but not so great surfaces. Maybe too they just send big boxes through for reprocessing without looking too closely at what goes in. At present I am not aware of the details of how this reprocessing is done, but would be interested to know. I wonder if it is some kind of electrolysis?
Since they know they will be covering any damage with the replating, they can use almost anything to clean off all of the problems and no one will object
Ah... I didn't think of that. I "know" that they strip the old zinc and replate it. But I never actually "saw" it, so I can't understand or really appreciate what that entails. I read/hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
A pretty ugly '43 1c actually cleans up nicely with electrolysis to strip corrosion and no replating or "cleaned". I actually worked on 3 garbage coins today I had while putting some up into slabs...literally garbage and turned into nice little keepers.
Well here's a comparison. I had 3 similar (literally identical) to the top and ran the first thru (below)...still needs some work around edges but I'm avoiding rubbing the coins, so needs more time. The second coin I have before pictures so can post that side by side later once I take the after pics...I also went ahead and made a video of the process in case it helps since I haven't really seen any thorough videos.
The first one I did a while back is here while I was figuring out the process. There are a few after that I figured out what NOT to do...it is very easy to accidentally copper plate them or plate over corrosion. This one isnt great but it helped me identify what tweaks I needed to make. These are the same coin. I've since changed my setup to a much more effective approach that removes the copper plating issue. I think you can actually see a hint of copper on this one. I had two after that that I let go way too long and they ended up entirely copper plated...reversing that is really tough. My intent is to harmlessly clean the coin and not alter it...and these are only for my collection, since I'm not a seller at this point. Heres a before And after of the same coin
I'll share my video once I get it pulled together. I spent a few weeks of research along with pulling my old college chemistry classes out of my brain and tried a few things until I got good results. I was actually quite shocked at how well it worked without impacting the coin...then of course the next few turned the steel penny to copper coated HA and I thought I was doing exactly the same process...took a week to figure out what I'd done wrong. Glad to share in case it helps others. Even in my video I let it go too long since I wasnt looking directly at the coin and managed to get a slight aluminum coating over corrosion, so I'm adding notes to the video to help others avoid these issues. It's a very simple setup that is extremely finicky to screw it up!
They accompanied other orders I received. One of them was in an envelope together with some other offers they sent in the mail. They also sometimes give away a 2010 Shield Cent or a random ATB Quarter with your order.
The only reason they gave you free reprocessed steel cents is that they are only worth a penny a piece.
Your war nickels are coins that were assembled after they circulated. They are worth the silver value, $1.41 each due to the high cost of silver. For many years these were worth less than $1 each. You may as well leave them in the holder as it is a complete "set". The 43P seems to be in nice condition. And the 43S 45P and 45S are OK.
There's a sweet steel on Heritage currently sitting at $1300 or so...obviously not reprocessed. I did stumble on some old Littleton 55S I got 30+ years ago...had completely forgotten about them and hadn't laid eyes on them since I was 10 but they are nice!