I came across 3 bronze 1943 wheat pennies today. Out of curiosity i bought them hoping that they are real..! So what are your thoughts? Real? Counterfeit? Plated?
The odds of you having a genuine 1943 bronze cent are so infinitesimal, they'd be equal to being hit by lightning 12 times and hitting both the powerball and megabucks jackpots twice and finding Jimmy Hoffa, all in the same week. It's a pretty good fake.
Over the years, there have been a couple sell at big-name auctions, so they do exist, from all 3 mints: ===== Professional Coin Grading Service, an organization that evaluates and grades rare coins, certified the penny in question, grading it a 62 on a scale of 1 to 70. Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob R. Simpson bought the coin from Legend Numismatics, a rare coin dealer in Lincroft, N.J. “The Simpson collection now contains the finest known bronze cent from each mint, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver, including the unique 1943-D bronze cent that PCGS certified after Legend acquired and sold to him for a record $1.7 million in 2010,” Willis said.
See if they are attracted to a magnet. As kids, my brother and I scrubbed a couple of steelies with a brush and some type of coin cleaner. The result was a 1943 that had the appearance of copper. Yours may have had a similar treatment.
