I recently found a large coin collection belonging to my father. In his collection of pennies there is a well rusted penny, which is steel. However, due to the rust I can barely read the date. I know you are not suppose to clean coins, but in this case to determine if it is a 1943 or 1944 will make a large difference. Is there anyway to determine the year of coin or have it cleaned without losing it's value?
Welcome! It's a '43. The chances of it being a '44 are astronomical. You have a better chance of hitting the Power Ball jackpot twice in the same week.
More than extremely unlikely it is anything but a nearly worthless 1943. If you want to waste some money on a nearly impossible long shot , send it to one of the TPG's for conservation.
His 1943 section was empty and his 1944 section was filled (no option in it for steel penny), this penny was left separate to the set. So I am not sure if he was not able to read the date when he filled it, or it got destroyed over time. The set was left in a garage for 30 something years and has obvious water/weather damage.
I had the same problem. I had a steal penny and couldn't see the date. I said, it's either a worthless cent or a million dollar coin.I used wd 40 to clean it but it was 1943
99.99999% chance it's a 1943. Drop it into some vinegar and let it soak then rinse with tap water. After you see it's a 1943 put it back into circulation for some young collector to find and get excited about.
