What is the giveaway? I have a few I'm curious about actually. This one looks nice besides the PVC dmg
Don’t feel bad I ended up with three steel penny’s that I thought where it great shape not as shine as your are Got all three for $2. When I posted it on CT awhile back I think paddyman burst my bubble! There are ALOT of them plated. But now you know!!
Since the original 1943 cents were punched from zinc coated steel material, their edges show steel which is a dull grey material. If the edge is the same as the obv/rev, it has been reprocessed. Jim
The edge should be relatively smooth. The roughness on the edge shows that the coin was rusted on the edge. Normally Steelies show a bit of rust on the edges, but not enough to appear pitted like this one.
I got an education in these a while back. The key is the luster. A struck steel cent will show luster. A reprocessed steel cent shines like a fresh layer of lacquer. It’s pretty but there is no luster.