I have a steel cent that has the 4 completely missing. I have several others that appear to have part of the 4 missing. Is this common on the 1943?
Yes it is common. The 4 is missing because the Die that struck it was filled with compacted debris, usually grease in the incused 4. Common nothing really major Steel Cent expert
Thanks. I appreciate the info. I was born in 1943 and have saved a bunch of coins. I am retired now and looking through my accumulations.
Very nice. I don't think I have any that nice. But, I am digging them out and looking close. Thanks for the pics.
Yes. When it comes to grease fill errors each year seems to have it's own favorite spot to fill. On the 43 cents it was the 4. On New Hampshire quarters it was the mintmark, on Delaware quarters it was the E in STATE (first state), Bicentennial halves it was the e in INDEPENDENCE. The other years of Lincolns in the 40's didn't really h ve problems with the date, but the 4 disappeared a lot on the 43's.
A 'wheel mark' is the circular scar that a counting machine gives a coin when it's jammed in the machinery. Sometimes the circular wheel mark is light, and partial, other times it can be deeper, and make a complete circle on the coins surface.
It seems to. The steel is a lot "stickier" than bronze/brass, and the blanks needed to be coated (usually with a little oil) so that they didn't rust from the edges - the strip of steel was coated with zinc before the blanks were punched out - so there wasn't any protection for the edges to keep them from corroding.
Planchet of all types typically are coated with a thin oil layer to aid in moving through the feeding mechanisms without sticking. The steel cents did have their own problem though with zinc dust, flakes, and oxide shedding from the surfaces and mixing with the oil to provide the "gunk" that caused the die filling.
