Pure Silver Penny

I just want to say something here. If it is a off metal strike it will be worth more than a regular cent of that date in that same condition but it will not be something that you (or your mom) will be able to retire off of or anything. I know some people go their whole life hearing how much a coin is worth and it seems to go up in value each time the story is told and when it actually comes time to sell the coin in question the person selling gets their feelings hurt or think someone is trying to take advantage of them. Like I said by no means will this coin be worthless or even worth what a regular coin struck on a normal planchet of the same year and condition, but usually its not worth as much as someone thought especially when it has been handed down through family members. All that being said I want to welcome you to the forum and how you enjoy your stay with us, we have some specialists in error coins (I am not one of them) that would be able to give you more information about your coin once you have pictures of the coin and you can go from there with the information they give you

These cent-on-dime-planchet errors appear to be fairly common and are offered in major auctions on a regular basis. Recent sales on Heritage include a 1956-D cent on a silver dime planchet, graded MS-64 by PCGS, that went for $1495 in February, 2008. A 1951-S example graded MS-62 by NGC went for about $2700; that one was probably bid up higher because of the desirable San Francisco mintmark. A 1956 coin that was lightly circulated (AU-55 grade) sold for $575. A mint-state example slabbed by ANACS that was determined to have been cleaned went for less than $400. Too bad this coin is not a 1943; those sell for much more because of collector interest in the famous copper planchet errors that exist for that date.

So, I would estimate that if this coin is circulated but undamaged it could bring $500 to $1000. If mint state it might go for $1000 to $1500, but not much more than that unless it is especially choice.

I agree with SeatedNut: certification by PCGS or NGC is mandatory if you want to obtain the best possible price. The certificate your mom has might be an interesting collectible in its own right. I wonder if it is signed by a known numismatic expert?

I'm looking forward to those photos!

Pics please.

OK, here are some photos that I took today. I was wrong about the date. It actually is a 1943, not a 1945. In any event, she and I will be interested in what you all think might be a rough value.
Thanks,
PHstern


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It looks like silver to me. Very nice! Thanks for sharing!


The planchet expanded to "fill" the cent collar; therefore it should be thinner than a normal dime.

Oooo, an old ANACS photo certificate- I was wondering and hoping that is what you were talking about
If it had just been something that some random dealer wrote up, then it would be worthless but that photo certificate is golden. Those certificates are pieces of numismatic history. The American Numismatic Association started authenticating coins back in the 70s and issued those photo certs. They eventually graded the coins too and were the first big third party grader until PCGS swamped the market. The photo certs ended when the era of plastic slabs came about and the ANA sold off ANACS.

If that had been any other date besides 1943, it would have never circulated that long. But since 1943s were the Steelies, it must have just kind of blended in with the normal ones. I would imagine, even in that state of wear, that the coin would probably be worth more than your average off metal Wheatie. Heritage Auction Galleries sold a PCGS AU50 in 2006 for $4900 http://coins.ha.com/common/view_ite...&Lot_No=1963

Absolutely awesome error

Thanks for all the info. I'll take any suggestions as to who to call about a sale or auction. I'm a little hesitant to do anything with it locally. My mom took it to a coin store here in the OKC area and was offered 250 for it and told that it was not terribly uncommon. Fortunately she had a sense that he was not being totally up and up with her.

My late aunt and her husband were amateur collectors and she did have a few other coins that she thought had value, but surely not to the extent of the silver penny. My mom also has a 1835 Liberty Bust dime, an 1822 Lombardy-Venetia 1 centesimo. She also has a 1978 d Kennedy half which she saved. I see nothing myself which looks any different, but apparently she did. If you all want, I can photograph and post those too.

Thanks again, and thanks for the welcome.
Paul

True, actually the 1943 is the most common year for cents struck on dime planchets because they DIDN'T stand out during visual inspection like they would in other years, and the steel cent was the same weight as the silver dime so they couldn't be separated by weight either.