Hello, I hope all of you are well and that things are going well. I haven't posted here and am not too keen on public forums but I am fine with Coin Talk. This morning as I was waiting to call the ANA Library to get some information before I checked out some books I decided to do a little research online on my oddity. I came across the 70's thread concerning a kid, his dad, and a dime with a similar issue I have with my steel cent. I added a comment on the chance someone may know or be familiar with this issue. My cent is 1943-P with a "channel" of sorts that runs horizontally and completely around and within the circumference (18.973 mm) of the edge of this cent. This cent weighs in at 2.268 grams and feels a little off as well. I do not handle it anymore and I will note that visually, the cent does not look like any typical steel cent I have happened to run across. It looks rough as you will see in these photos. I have had this coin examined by a few other ANA members and my coin dealer as well. We all agree that it is not an encased cent removed from its metal holder, and the channel on the edge seems to be reminiscent of a foreign planchet, like something from Hong Kong, as within this machined channel there nodules, better yet, long narrow rectangular rises or notches. I know that this is not a Hong Kong planchet, nor do I claim to have the slightest idea about what foreign planchet it could be, if any. I went as far as to cut the difference in weight from another steel cent, for a visual perspective as far as the issue of underweight is concerned. I cut off a considerable amount and visually, the cent i destroyed was almost missing a third of itself. I tried cutting a channel into the edge of a steel cent as well, yes, as you guessed, the alloy of a steel cent is extremely hard and too hard for an average Dremel tool. Sorry about reviving an old thread as well BTW . Thanks for reading this and any comments are appreciated.
Well it looks to me like it's nothing but pure environmental damage PMD it appears that its had a Acid Bath at some point in time.JMHO wait for others that have alot more experience than I do. Dave
1943 Steel Cent blanks were punched from zinc coated steel sheets, so the edges had exposed steel. They graininess of your coin looks like it was exposed to a corrosive liquid. Whatever it was attacked the steel but reacted a lot slower with the zinc. Soaking in a corrosive liquid would also explain the lighter weight. IMO, it is PMD
Thank you. It's amazing that acid can eat thru steel like that and not phase the zinc. I did not think that the edge would have weighed that much though. Anyway, thank you for the help.
I would suspect that your coin was in a wet enviroment for a long time. Water does not affect the zinc as easily as Steel. The reason for the coating in the first place.
