Wondering What Caused This.

That is a perfectly normal circulated steel cent, a composition only used for 1943. The steelies tended to get very ugly once circulated.

All is normal

The 3 looks somewhat normal. The issue is, that there is a significant amount of rusting to the south of the date, and that will start to cause issues. The inside of the coin is probably very unstable and rusting. The Planchet/ Coin is probably rusting from the inside out.


As for the "1" of the date,, look at what the coin is telling you. When I look at this coin, I see a series of dots that start at Lincolns shoulder, it passes through the one, hits the "9" and that damage continues North east in a series of other "dots of damage".

The condition of this steel cent is at, or near, what they call "Cull", a really damaged or bad off coin that holds very little value.

Since this coin was circulated, and has passed through many hands, the possibilities are endless as to what actually happened to the coin. These are usually written off as Post Mint Damage ( PMD) and sent back to the bank.