How to spot a reprocessed 1943 Steel Penny

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that's pretty shiny

 

That looks like it was reprocessed.

Charlie

 

my thoughts exactly...

 

Didn't Steel Penny's have an outer shell?

 

and a chewy center?

:mouth:

 

hmm..thanks for the insight. what exactly are reprocessed pennies?

edit: are reprocessed pennies worth much?

 

Reprocessed means the cent has been replated with zinc to make it shiny again.Unfortunately,this brings the value down to almost nothing.Here is what a run of truly uncirculated coins look like.Notice the lustre patterns,that's the way to tell the difference.Of course there is a possibility that yours was just shined up but it still is worth only a bit above face value.You actually did well to get $3.25 for it in my opinion.
Here's a good thing to read.
http://www.usmintquarters.com/steelcents.htm

 

From it's apparent excellant condition I'd say it was just a cleaned regular cent. Many 1943 steel cents were put away due to being so strange back in the 40's. I put away many rolls of them. My Dad had a gas station back then and many of the coins I picked out of his change looked like yours due to his oily hands. After all these years I occationally open one of those plastic rolls of the 43 cents I have and many are still coated with that oil. They do look something like yours. However, I think yours was just cleaned.

 

The thickness of the letters is a give away.

Ruben

 

Good one Mr.B!
I never noticed that.If you look at the reverse of the cent and look at the lettering,then go to the link I supplied in my other post and look at the illustration,the letters appear almost twice as thick.Most likely from being over-plated.

 

Mik - I don't see were you posted a reprocessed coin.

Ruben

 

I was referring to dalau's original photo compared with the one in my last post...sorry.

 

From what I've heard the enlargement of lettering may not be from recoating, but from the wearing out of the dies. Remember these are steel and not a soft copper material so that the dies wore out much faster. As they wear out the letters and numbers appear to grow. Regardless of whichever that coin is the price of those coins is to minimal to worry about what caused the shine.

 

Hi,
There is no question that the coin in the 2X2 that is at the start of this thread is a reprocessed cent.
Have Fun,
Bill

 

Not in this case. In this case it is also too smoth. Layering always smoths a surface like snow on the landscape.

Ruben

 

bump.
see first post in thread

 

I've gained some knowledge now from reading these threads about reprocessed pennies. Maybe I wont get stung again, LOL!!!
I more thing I was curious about with reprocessed steel pennies:
Does the edge of the coin give any indications of reprocessing?
I have a few where the edge is as shiny as the face and back.
Then in turn I have some with excessively shiny surfaces but the edge is dull.
Do you think someone would go through the extremes of reprocessing them and scraping the edges?
Probably anything is possible, someone please give me your input on this. ty

 

Nothing unusual about the dull edges since that could occur due to storage. If the coins are kept in a roll the edges are exposed more to the elements than the surfaces. The paper of the roll effects the edges but can't get to the surface as redily. Similar reaction is the front and rear coins of paper wrapped rolls. There are many weird things that hapened to these pennies due to being the only ones that were made of steel coated with zinc. As everyone noticed that as they wore the Zinc vanished leaving the steel to start the rusting effect. There were probably some unscrupulous dealers that thought they could reep in a fortune by bulk plating the rusted ones they would pick up for a penny. However, there were some that were electroplated with Zinc or Chome or Tin. Usually done in Chem labs by nutty students like I was. These types are so thinly plated it is difficult to distinquish from the original coating. However, the tell tail of that process is the method of suspension in the solvent. A thin piece of elctrolitic material was placed around the coin and then the electrolosis was started. This would actually leave a dull edge to the coin which appeared as if the coin was kept in a roll. This was done in very small amounts due to not wanting to get caught by a professor.