Could this be Real 1943 Copper Penny???

[Hogtown Hunter]

A friend asked me to look at some old coins of his that were passed down to him. Dozens of Buffalo nickles, dozens of wheats and IHP. This one caught my eye. It says 1943 and is a bronze color. I put it next to one his steel 1943 pennies in picture. I told him he needed to take it out of the case and rinse with water and dish soap and see if someone just put brown shoe polish on it. And if it doesn't come off he had a coin that could be worth a lot of money.

 

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[nkellam22]

See how much it weighs. A copper wheat penny should weigh around 3.11 grams while a steel cent should weigh around 2.72 grams.
Keep in mind it's probably gonna weigh slightly less due to circulation.

 

[Georgivs]

Magnet?

 

[Hogtown Hunter]

He's out in his boat right now. I'll talk to him tonight and post what he finds out

 

[smokeythecat]

Do not have him wash it. If it were original, he could lose a ton of money doing that. Only recourse is to take a good hand lens and look at it, weight it as previously stated and also see if it sticks to a magnet.

If it passes the weight and magnet tests, send it insured to one of the grading companies.

Otherwise DON'T mess with it. Dealers will try to take advantage of people, so forget them too.

 

[desertexplorer]

I’m with smokey, don’t mess with it or clean it. A 1943 copper penny is worth a LOT of money. I’m not even sure about sending it in the mail unless it is insured for tens of THOUSANDS of dollars and only then if it is verified to be a true 1943 copper. Some “43” coppers were a 1948 with half of the “8” cut away and it’s hard to tell in your photos what you have since it’s not a real detailed and a magnet is a definite to ensure that it isn’t just copper plated.

 

[Hogtown Hunter]

Do not have him wash it. If it were original, he could lose a ton of money doing that. Only recourse is to take a good hand lens and look at it, weight it as previously stated and also see if it sticks to a magnet.

If it passes the weight and magnet tests, send it insured to one of the grading companies.

Otherwise DON'T mess with it. Dealers will try to take advantage of people, so forget them too.

Ok. Thanks. I'm just thinking it may have been colored with something. If you look at rim of coin and his cheek it looks a lot lighter color? I think he has scale. I'll see if he can do that and magnet first.

 

[galenrog]

I am with desertexplorer on this. 1: Do not clean. 2: Check with magnet. 3: If a magnet picks it up, it is a steel cent. 4: If a magnet does not pick it up, the likelihood of it being an altered 1948 is extremely high.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Hogtown Hunter]

I’m with smokey, don’t mess with it or clean it. A 1943 copper penny is worth a LOT of money. I’m not even sure about sending it in the mail unless it is insured for tens of THOUSANDS of dollars and only then if it is verified to be a true 1943 copper. Some “43” coppers were a 1948 with half of the “8” cut away and it’s hard to tell in your photos what you have since it’s not a real detailed and a magnet is a definite to ensure that it isn’t just copper plated.

Ok. Yeah. I'll have him not wash it. Magnet and weight
It is definitely a 1943. I know my pics look terrible if you are zooming in on post pics. If you tap on individual pic it looks clearer for some reason.

 

[A2coins]

That would be worth alot. I have found them where they looked like that from being in the ground but I could tell they were steel by the top of the letters I could see the lighter color. I hope it is copper that would be freakin SWEEEET......Tommy..... let us know either way..

 

[jewelerguy]

looks like a steel cent with a slightly brown (very light rust) patina to it. I'm betting a magnet will snatch it up quickly

 

[Georgivs]

It's funny this was posted today, I found a '46 today that had my heart racing because it looked like a 3. That was always the holly grail when we were CRH with my dad. I went back through all the wheaties I've found and most of them are 44-46. I guess there was a lot of partying going on around that time.

 

[Hogtown Hunter]

Yep. It's magnetic. Just a very dirty steel penny. Thanks for advice on magnet.