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<p>[QUOTE="XAVIERenc, post: 3979553, member: 109681"]This thread has two intentions. One, to find out <i>if</i> and <i>what</i> errors these coins have. The other intention is to just share my story, which I have always found a fascinating one.</p><p><br /></p><p>My coins come with a bit of provenance. (maybe)</p><p><br /></p><p>Working as a cashier at a gas station, I became friends with an antique store owner down the road. At the time, I was just getting into coin collecting and he could see my excitement when I talked about all of my coin searching endeavors. Well one day he brought me a gift. Three 1943 Steel Pennies that were encased in a plastic/cardboard holder for coins. Each coin was struck with a different mint: "S", "D", and "No mint mark". This is where my friend began to tell the story. He had purchased the coins from a customer in his shop. The customer explained he had been a mint worker and that he had been warned of losing his job due to mistakes he was making. Well he had made the mistake again and decided to remove the evidence. The three steel cents were mistakes he made during striking. He then smuggled the coins out of the mint and sold them in an attempt to not lose his job.</p><p><br /></p><p>Well this was the story that was given to me and honestly, who the hell knows how much of it is true. All I know is I liked the story and have always used it as a guide to finding out more about these three unique steel pennies. Either way, the striking features are there for you to see and I have always wanted to know just what these <i>errors </i>or <i>damages </i>are.</p><p><br /></p><p>I realize there are many potential observations that make the story seem false, but at the same time, I have yet to see a reason the story is not false. Maybe the idea of it being true is more exciting.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the end I have always wanted to know just what I have and see how much value is in these coins. My friend who gave them to me said he looked them up online and valued them at $75.00 each, but we all know that would be a difficult task to do without having them officially graded. On that note, YES I plan to grade these coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Each picture was scanned at 1200dpi using a desktop scanner. Sorry these are the best images I can make on my budget at the moment. However, the features are visible enough for sharing, I think.</p><p><br /></p><p>I will detail each coin...</p><p><br /></p><ul> <li><b>Denver -</b> Notice the striking "dots" on the reverse. Is that a result from a damaged die? Is that bits of steel that got on the coin before stamping? Or is this a chemical reaction in some way? Also, take notice of the double stamped mint mark. It does not match the popular double stamped denver mint mark steel pennies I see going around on the net.</li> <li><b>San Francisco</b> - This one also has a bold double stamped mint mark. Or is that a doubled mint die? What is more interesting is the three features you see as a sort of "rough" spot on the obverse. One above the date, one on the shoulder of Abe and another behind his ear. To me, they always looked like some kind of fine cloth got on the coin during stamping, or maybe something else. Or maybe the die was damaged? I read that a lot of dies that year took a large beating.<br /> </li> <li><b>No Mint</b> - Ironically, this is the strangest of the three. You will immediately notice the "sunken" letters on the reverse. The "UR" in "PLURIBUS" and the "UNU" in "UNUM". Due to the geometric shape of the flat area between the two sunken portions, it seems the die was damaged. What do you think? Another striking feature you will notice is the shine. The other two coins have a shiny mirror-like finish, while this one has a more grey-like shine. Does this mean the planchet was not zinc plated? Is it a different type of steel? Different zinc?</li> </ul><p><br /></p><p>Now as for the story, these coins exhibit the grade of BU easily, maybe the highest, so the story adds up there. But what confuses me is, how a mint worker living in southern california made three strike errors on three different minted coins. Do the mints get coins from other mints? I know that a lot of "no mint" coins get stamped at other mints.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now as for the obvious counter theory, this could all be a facade and the coins were simply "reprocessed" as I have seen other conversations describe them. If so, the errors or damage would easily be explained. Well grading them is the best way to find out and I intend to either way. Thanks for reading my forum post and thanks in advance for your time![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="XAVIERenc, post: 3979553, member: 109681"]This thread has two intentions. One, to find out [I]if[/I] and [I]what[/I] errors these coins have. The other intention is to just share my story, which I have always found a fascinating one. My coins come with a bit of provenance. (maybe) Working as a cashier at a gas station, I became friends with an antique store owner down the road. At the time, I was just getting into coin collecting and he could see my excitement when I talked about all of my coin searching endeavors. Well one day he brought me a gift. Three 1943 Steel Pennies that were encased in a plastic/cardboard holder for coins. Each coin was struck with a different mint: "S", "D", and "No mint mark". This is where my friend began to tell the story. He had purchased the coins from a customer in his shop. The customer explained he had been a mint worker and that he had been warned of losing his job due to mistakes he was making. Well he had made the mistake again and decided to remove the evidence. The three steel cents were mistakes he made during striking. He then smuggled the coins out of the mint and sold them in an attempt to not lose his job. Well this was the story that was given to me and honestly, who the hell knows how much of it is true. All I know is I liked the story and have always used it as a guide to finding out more about these three unique steel pennies. Either way, the striking features are there for you to see and I have always wanted to know just what these [I]errors [/I]or [I]damages [/I]are. I realize there are many potential observations that make the story seem false, but at the same time, I have yet to see a reason the story is not false. Maybe the idea of it being true is more exciting. In the end I have always wanted to know just what I have and see how much value is in these coins. My friend who gave them to me said he looked them up online and valued them at $75.00 each, but we all know that would be a difficult task to do without having them officially graded. On that note, YES I plan to grade these coins. Each picture was scanned at 1200dpi using a desktop scanner. Sorry these are the best images I can make on my budget at the moment. However, the features are visible enough for sharing, I think. I will detail each coin... [LIST] [*][B]Denver -[/B] Notice the striking "dots" on the reverse. Is that a result from a damaged die? Is that bits of steel that got on the coin before stamping? Or is this a chemical reaction in some way? Also, take notice of the double stamped mint mark. It does not match the popular double stamped denver mint mark steel pennies I see going around on the net. [*][B]San Francisco[/B] - This one also has a bold double stamped mint mark. Or is that a doubled mint die? What is more interesting is the three features you see as a sort of "rough" spot on the obverse. One above the date, one on the shoulder of Abe and another behind his ear. To me, they always looked like some kind of fine cloth got on the coin during stamping, or maybe something else. Or maybe the die was damaged? I read that a lot of dies that year took a large beating. [*][B]No Mint[/B] - Ironically, this is the strangest of the three. You will immediately notice the "sunken" letters on the reverse. The "UR" in "PLURIBUS" and the "UNU" in "UNUM". Due to the geometric shape of the flat area between the two sunken portions, it seems the die was damaged. What do you think? Another striking feature you will notice is the shine. The other two coins have a shiny mirror-like finish, while this one has a more grey-like shine. Does this mean the planchet was not zinc plated? Is it a different type of steel? Different zinc? [/LIST] Now as for the story, these coins exhibit the grade of BU easily, maybe the highest, so the story adds up there. But what confuses me is, how a mint worker living in southern california made three strike errors on three different minted coins. Do the mints get coins from other mints? I know that a lot of "no mint" coins get stamped at other mints. Now as for the obvious counter theory, this could all be a facade and the coins were simply "reprocessed" as I have seen other conversations describe them. If so, the errors or damage would easily be explained. Well grading them is the best way to find out and I intend to either way. Thanks for reading my forum post and thanks in advance for your time![/QUOTE]
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