1943 Copper Penny Found

Ok, Heres the story. I bought unsearched steel pennies in bulk. These were bagged in 1964 so if the coin is fake its an old fake. Whenever i sort steels i use a felt covered magnet first to make sure everything is magnetic. The ones that arnt magnetic are usually very very rusty, Not 1943's or zinc coated pennies from science experiments. After sorting through all the steels i moved to my non-magmnetic pile. European coins, normals wheats, etc. some of them are un readable and so i soak these in hot vinegar then scrub them with baking soda. When i pulled them out of the vinegar i looked at the copper pennies and they were all bad dates that had black or silver paint making people mistake them for steel but one was still "dirty" it was covered in black crayon that looked like tarnish. I couldnt read the date so i used my shirt to polish off the hot crayon wax and I found the copper 1943 penny. After multiple magnet tests i looked at it under magnification. Everything was perfect, strong stamp light wear on abes head, high points and edges, a few knicks but great condish, the only oddity was a double die reverse and that caused a few things that look like cuds but follow the shape of the lettering. The doubling is to the right and appears on everything (more prominent towards the edges) look at the "M" in "UNUM" the coin is really shiny from the vinegar and my shirt so dont beat on me for cleaning it. It was the only way to tell! Dont let the luster make you think its fake because its cleaned. It was very tarnished before. Almost forgot to mention the weight and diameter match perfectly. Anyway heres the pics, sorry for the long story. I have the coin in an airtight slab right now. Thanks so much.

 

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The odds are so infinitesimal that I want to say fake. The doubling on the reverse looks fake to me, too.
But I'm no pro, so I'll wait for someone with more knowledge to come along and opine.

 

Cast copied fake? Weak details, incorrect wear patterns, and the doubling is in different sized fonts.

-LTB

 

have a look at the new pics, the glare of the sun on my ping pong table (lol) made the coin look splotchy and grainy which is not at all visible under intense magnification, but yes the doubling does look weird to me

 

Im not sure if its different size or if the doubling is weaker than the primary stamp

 

Show us a pic of the edge. I'm seeing what looks like casting seams on the obverse and want to be sure.

 

It looks to me like a fake...the details on the reverse don't look right. I hope you realize that cleaning coins is not something you want to do...especially if very rare coins. On the off change this thing is real (and I mean unbelievable long shot)...the cleaning could seriously hurt the value.

 

Even with the new pics...the fields are a mess, the lettering is weak, and the "doubling" shows all the engravers mistakes...like look at the mini L next to the large L. There are red flags all over this coin.

-LTB

 

Judging by amounts of 1943 copper and 1944 steel cents found and reported on CT, why would anyone consider these rare anymore?
:dead-horse:

 

If you read the article above i had no intention of cleaning it and was really bumbed i did after the cleaning revealed its date

 

A genuine 1943 copper cent would have strong devices and lettering as the pressure required to strike up the steel coins was greater than the copper coins.

 

Ok ill be adding it to original post in a sec

 

I believe the key, (until its weighed and/or edges looked at), would be the doubling. It cannot be machine doubling like that I believe, and I have never heard of any authentic 1943's with such a doubled die.

Besides the fact its one of the most heavily faked wheat cents there are, the doubled die is most troubling to me at first.

 

Now the obverse looks double die too...

 

There is an extra s in pluribus

 

I am 60 year old that don't make me an expert by no means! but 1958 I started collecting coins + wheat's cent was all I could afford. I to have 1943 copper wheat cent.
but not the real thing.
its one made by Ideal Coins they made countless # 1794 1/2 cent thru dollar and 25c-$50.00 gold plated copy coin's.
there ads were plaster all over the back of comic books back then.
I think they closed up when the 1973 copy law went in to affect.

:thumb:But I do hope its could be real!!!!

 

The deteails are actually raised significantly higher than the details on a steel 1943

 

Sonic scale reads within .003 of a 1944 copper penny

 

Ok, good to know.

I am not a serious error collector, but the degree of the doubled die is incredible. I have not seen such an error since the 1844 SL half. Is there a known doubled die of the 43 wheat that dramatic error guys? Sorry I do not have my cherry pickers guide at work.

 

It almost looks like it was stamped twice, i know this is virtually impossible...