I was born in 1943 so I have always been interested in the 1943 Steel Cents. I don't remember when I got these, but it would have been when I was very young. I came across them the other day. They have been reconditioned using very crude methods. They have finger prints that are actually in the coating. They have little bubbles or blisters of the coating all over them. They have what looks like clamp marks. The weight is close but obvious that there is weight to the coating.
I have too many nice 1943 cents now. I think I kept every one I ever saw since 1943. In fact, I have 20 great grandkids and I gave one to each of them. I think I traded for this back in the 50's. It is only a novelty now.
From the way it was presented, it appears to have been one of those "special offers" that were prevalent in magazines in the late 50s and early 60s. That alone has a cool factor IMO. Having over 500 1943 cents, left to me by my grandfather, the only reprocessed one I have was sent as a gift with an order I received and it looks worse than yours.
I just can't remember. There were about a dozen of us kids in town that collected. Everything was available in circulation. We got together frequently in what was a club or swap meet. We didn't care so much about monetary value. Mostly it was what we perceived as relative scarcity that governed any swaps. I think I got it in one of those trades. But, I may have gotten it as a special offer. That is the original holder.
It's nice to be able to revert back in time for some things and coins are definitely worth the effort.
