I have what I believe is a steel Lincoln wheat back penny. I can't see the year due to corrosion but the wheat back is clear enough to see that it is one and it is grayish in color and magnetic. I also have 2 1923 wheat pennies in good condition and a 1921s in good condition too. All have been in circulation. So I know they aren't worth the mint price. Just want to know what I've got.
It's hard to judge any coin without good photos of both sides. I'm guessing that your steel cent is a 1943. The US needed copper for the war effort, and 1943 was the only year that steel cents were produced. Chris
For many people who don't really collect coins but run across some in their daily life, the best source to see what you have and what it is worth is e-bay, due to the large volume of business they do in coins. Go to e-bay and search for "steel Lincoln cent", "1923 Lincoln cent" and "1921 S Lincoln cent" and see what you find.
usually coins of that value are not appraised. While the coins you mention are of some value, unless they are of spectacular quality, they are worth a few dollars not high value, and so not worth the time and expense of appraisal. Do you want just an approximate value? or do you need an appraisal for insurance or estate value?
Sarah, most likely any worthwhile appraisal would cost many times your possible gain. In a condition where the date is not determinable, since it would be valuable ONLY if it wasn't a 1943, no one would certify it either way. Post a photo anyway, and maybe some of our photo wizards can process it to 'see' a date.
Thank you all for the info. I was hoping that the 1923 coins would be worth appraisal, but I guess not. I'll just hold on to them until they are worth more. Thanks so much!!!!
To give you an idea of what I was talking about, I went to e-bay and searched for "1923 cent" and specified Buy It Now and these were the first 3 entries:
Keep them for fun, not worth the $'s for valuation. But, folks here could tell you if you posted pcitures
