i found a penny from 1957 that appears to be steel. when i put a magnet to it, the coin stuck. i know that steel pennies were only made in 1943, so what happened? can you help me value this? thanks
pobrien: First, welcome to the forum. Second, it a magnet does stick, well, That would be very unusual. Perhaps someone will be along in a little bit to answer your question.
That is very unusual. I can think of only 3 possibilities. Either it was plated with steel for some reason after the mint, it is a counterfeit, possibly to fool collectors or possibly as a novelty, or a genuine coin struck on scrap metal, which does happen. Sometimes coins are struck on foreign metals that are never intended for coins, but most of those are questionable in origin, meaning that they came from the mint, but it is unknown if they were made on purpose by an employee goofing around. If your coin truly does stick to a magnet, I would certainly send it to a third party grading service to verify authenticity. If you do not want to spend the money for a TPG right away, you could first weigh the coin with a scale that weighs in grams or grains and compare it to the weight of a normal wheat penny. Of course, the penny IS from the United States, right?
reply i have more info on the penny. when we looked at the edge of the penny, some parts were a copper-like color. do you think the color could be from the steel rusting, or is my penny worthless and made of copper? if it is made of copper, how did it stick to a magnet? thank you for all of your help
