Expert: Ronald Fern - 4/20/2010

Question
In cleaning our attic today, my wife came across a penny collection she had as a kid. In it, I discovered a 1943 Steel penny that is struck 19 3 (with possibly a faint 4 just after the 3.)Looking at it with a magnifying glass, it is clear that the 4 was never struck on the coin or it was miss struck after the 3.
Does this coin have any value? I have never seen one like this before and I could not find anything on line or in my coin book about it.
Thank you,
Mike Morrison

Answer
Hi Mike:

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer your question.

It's likely you may have a filled die. A filled die occurs when grease, dirt and metal particles compact into a die. The dies that strike coins are recessed so that when they strike a planchet (a metal blank), the metal of the planchet rises to fill in the die. That's why letters, numbers, words and designs are raised on coins. If the recesses of the die fill up with sludge, (which is a very common occurrence in a factory like the Mint), this sludge will prevent letters or numbers from forming during the strike.

A filled die is a very common form of minor error and does not add significant numismatic value to the coin. Filled die errors are known on every series and denomination of coin ever struck by the U.S. Mint, from the very first large cent to the State Quarters being struck today.

Another possibility is that your coin was reprocessed. Sometimes this process can cause elements of the coin design to become faint and/or missing. In general, a so-called "reprocessed" steel cent will still be very shiny even though it's been exposed to the atmosphere. A genuine zinc-coated steel cent will be somewhat dull in sheen unless it's been preserved in uncirculated condition. More importantly, most reprocessed cents came from circulation so the design will exhibit wear despite being shiny and new-looking at first glance. The dies used to strike steel cents were specially hardened so uncirculated (or moderately circulated) coins will have very sharp and well-defined features.

See for example the picture at http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/lincoln_cents/wheat_ear_cents/1943s_cent.ht...

A circulated coin of the steel cent type may be worth approximately two to three dollars to an interested collector.

You may want to check US coin listings under errors on ebay from time to time to see if your error is listed what this type of error brings.

Always try and get at least two opinions and try and deal with PNG dealers if possible. If you should decide to sell your coins to a dealer, remember they will offer about 50% to 60% of the retail value. Here's a link to find one in your area: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.