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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Oldhoopster, post: 4344294, member: 84179&quot;]I agree with the others that said it&#039;s a Chinese fake.&nbsp; The mushy strike and indistinct rims are characteristics of &quot;Alibaba $10 per dozen&quot; fakes available a few years ago (better ones are probably available today).&nbsp; The weakness your seeing is not due to wear</p><p><br /></p><p>Compare your coin to confirmed pieces</p><p><a href="https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1944-1c-steel/82722" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1944-1c-steel/82722" rel="nofollow">https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1944-1c-steel/82722</a></p><p>The strike, the details, the overall &quot;fabric&quot; of the coin, doesn&#039;t look anything like those pictured.&nbsp; This isn&#039;t absolute proof, but it&#039;s another piece of info that questions the authenticity of your coin</p><p><br /></p><p>Another quick check is to take it to a dealer/jeweler that has a handheld XRF.&nbsp; Steel cents had a zinc pkating, so if you don&#039;t see moderate Zn levels, it&#039;s fake (XRF penetrates deep enough that it will also pick up the Fe and other components of the steel).&nbsp; Also, check the edge.&nbsp; Steel planchets were punched from zinc plated sheets, so the steel is exposed along the edge.&nbsp; Overtime, you may be able to detect color differences (not foolproof, but another potentially useful data point). </p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, there is the question of context.&nbsp; Where did you get the coin.&nbsp; Did you buy recently at a flea market or ebay?&nbsp; Was it in a roll of sheets you purchased?&nbsp; I don&#039;t see any rust on the surface, so if you got it in circulation, it hasn&#039;t been out there very long.&nbsp; Has it been in your family for decades?&nbsp; No need to tell us the details, you can use them to make your own decision, but with the proliferation of Chinese fakes, finds without verifiable provenance should raise some flags.</p><p><br /></p><p>Remember, finding an authentic 1944 steel cent is similar to lottery odds.&nbsp; Throw in the number of fakes out there and you can see why it&#039;s unlikely you found one.&nbsp; Your pics suggest a it&#039;s a fake, and you didn&#039;t provide any other details that would point to authenticity.&nbsp; That&#039;s why members are telling you to save your money.&nbsp; I truly believe that most members will be excited for you if it comes back authentic, but based on what you showed so far, I don&#039;t think that&#039;s going to happen[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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