I found this coin few years ago already in a cardboard holder inside a travel trailer I purchased. Its taken me years to find someone who even had an idea of what ot was. Now I would just like to either sell it or get it graded then sell it. Ive contacted the coin grading company and because I don't have a membership its going to cost 60$ to grade one coin . On top of that 60$ I have to pay an additional 60$ because its an error. The coin grading company I spoke to over the phone said before I can even send it in I am required to get a estimated value of the coin. Considering most people i've spoken to in person about it have never seen one and assume its a steel penny from the WW2 period. So my question is what should I give as an estimated value for it when I send it in. Or is anyone interested in taking it off my hands for a reasonable price that's more knowledgeable on this type thing. Anyways thanks for any help.
Umm, no. It is most likely a replate over the copper plated cent. It does NOT have the look of an UNplated planchet. Too glossy. Chances are about 99.9% it's a "monkeyed with" coin and numismatically worthless.
Agree with VKB - although the photo isn't the best, it doesn't have the right surface look, and it is too shiny, to be on an unplated zinc planchet,
I thank the OP for providing an answer to a rhetorical question I asked a few weeks ago. Can a copper plated modern cent be, in turn, successfully replated with something else? It would appear we have an answer.
Does your Cent stick to a magnet?..... No? Then it's not steel! By the way.. You would send a Mint Error to a grading company to get attributed not just graded.
Not questioning anyone's opinion on this (it looks replated to me as well), but what sorts of things would we expect to see in a coin that has been expertly, and very thinly, replated as opposed to a true missing copper plate coin found in a mint-sewn bag? I assume the extra plating would add a very small weight, but if it were thin enough it could still be within mint tolerance. Would a missing copper plate lower the weight, or would the stock be rolled to the proper thickness and increase the weight of the planchet to within tolerances? What would a TPG look for to attribute a missing plating error?
The general rule is that: If the coin is bright and shiny, it's been re-plated If the coin is dark, dull and grey, it's been de-plated. A genuine 'struck on an unplated zinc planchet' should have luster, and look -similar- to a BU 1943 Steel Cent. And, if a genuine unplated cent gets into circulation, the luster gets worn off, and they would become almost impossible to authenticate as such, in my view.
@IanATX you have had the beginnings of an authentication from @Fred Weinberg who knows LOTS about errors. You could take the further step of contacting him and sending it to him for his opinion.
@IanATX ...don't send it in. You can't get better help than VKB, Kentucky and Fred. This looks exactly like the reprocessing that is found on 1943 PDS steels, and, as such, you might sell it as a novelty coin for fifty cents to a buck... Spark
