Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 1/25/2008

Question
I have found a 1963 penny that is not coppered. I have tried a magnet on it
and it does stick. It has  "D" mint mark and under high magnification shows no
signs of having been altered. Any ideas about this penny??

Answer
Jim, sorry I really can't explain this, particularly without seeing the cent.  I would guess that the "4" in a 1943 cent has been altered to 6, but then you say you don't think so.  I'd compare the piece carefully to a legitimate 1943D cent (if you don't have one go to www.ebay.com and do a search for 1943D cent or 1943D penny and you'll see lots of them for sale with pictures).  Look carefully at how all the numbers except the 6 look and the D and compare to your piece.  Does your 1963 cent have the memorial reverse (which it must have to have been made in 1963) or the wheat ears reverse (as on the 1943)?  I can't think of any other possibility.  I see no way that a steel planchet could have still been around in 1963 and gotten into the bin for striking.  One very remote possibility would be that someone at the mint did this and stamped a cent on a steel planchet in 1963, but in that case he and his family would have it.  I'm out of ideas, Jim Lawniczak