My father collects a lot of coins and buys wheaties in bulk. Out of all the thousands he has purchased he has found some fakes. Usually they are plated steel, but people would also take a 1948 cent and cut the 8 into a 3. It almost takes a microscope and an expert to authenticate this. It is highly unlikely to find a 1943 copper cent, because only a small handful has been found and it would make local news to find one that isn't known. My father was born in the early forties and he remembers people looking for these when he was a kid.