One day i was handed a roll of random coins from a 87 year old friend of my grandparents the first coin was a 1943d steel cent i held it carefully in my hand and noticed it was pure white,and a perfect reflection i took a 12x glass and looked at it there was not one scratch on the surface front and back the coin was so bright it hurt my eyes i took it to a dealer and he told me it was a superb gem uncirculated how much do you think its worth?
Unfortunately, even the premium gems are not worth very much. Here is my 1943 Steelie that I paid $57 for. If your coin grades the lofty MS68, it will be worth over $1,000.
Also many many have been tumbled and re-zinc - those sometimes do appera prooflike to Also many many have been tumbled and re-zinc - those sometimes do appear prooflike to folks who cannot yet readily tell the difference. I don't think I have ever seen a true un-touched mint state 43 with the mirrors like you are referrering to. If it were to exist it would be a 43-D though, these seem to have the most supered quality of the 3.
Your pictures are awfully small to see for sure, but my bet is that you have a reprocessed cent. BTW, your pictures are so small because they are over 250KB. When they are that large, the forum software reduces them.
Not necessarily, I've soaked quite a few steel cents in naval jelly to remove rust so I could inspect them.. At first I thought I was finding alot of doubled die cents.. I came to my own conclusion that the naval jelly, somehow, was lifting and shifting the zinc coating just enough to give it the appearence of ( doubling ).. Not saying this about yours, but it looks awfully familiar.. I've seen alot of spectacular 43-D's...
Is there any way to tell if they have been refinished? I know they are not a high dollar coin or even mildly rare but I do have some beautiful sets that might grade pretty high if they arn't redone.
The cents done in naval jelly vary.. Some turn out absolutely beautiful, some are gritty and have a chrome look to them, and some have the doubling affect.. If they look un-natural, then 99% of the time they've been tinkered with...
the easiest way to tell is to look at the edge of a steel cent. If it looks just the same as the faces, then it has been reprocessed. Most original 1943 cents are easy to tell because the faces are zinc (coating) but the planchet itself is steel and the edges do not have a zinc coating. It's also interesting to note that many of these cents have rust on the edges from the bare steel corroding over time.
Yes, many of the 43s on the market are reprocessed. Too bad because an original steel cent in MS is a beautiful coin.
Hi, It is very easy to tell by the picture that the coin is plated (reprocessed). The reprocessing also contributes to the doubled look of the mint mark. It is a very common thing to see on reprocessed cents. Technically, the numismatic value is about 2 cents as reprocessed cents are considered damaged. realistically though they are sold for around fifty cents. It is definitely not a proof coin as I don't believe they issued any proof cents for 1943. Thanks, Bill
