Want to have some fun with cell phone photos? 1943 S Copper Cent, 3.11 grams.

Meltdown

My cousin sent me some photo's yesterday from a guy who claims to have had this handed down from a family member.
The story is, his uncle (or father, I can't remember) had a vending business of some type in the 1980's and this has been in the family for a bunch of years.
I'm told it weighs 3.11 grams. I only have these cell phone photos to work from.
Obviously I told him how un-likely it is that this might be legit and possibly another wheat cent with an added mint mark.

I'll get some more information today possibly and did offer to send it to PCGS for my cousin if that's what he'd like to do.
In the meantime, I figured I'd share the photos here and get some opinions just for fun...
.

PipestonePete

Philly didn't mint any copper cents in 1943 except in error. There would be no need to add a mintmark if it was a genuine 1943 copper cent.

jonathanb

I don't love the shape of the mintmark. On the other hand, I can't say from the pictures that it's an obvious fake.

lcoopie

Photos pretty good
Cropping not so good 😀.

gumby1234

Looks copper plated to me. If genuine it would be worth quite a bit. PCGS has only 5 43 S slabbed.

Meltdown

@PipestonePete said:
Philly didn't mint any copper cents in 1943 except in error. There would be no need to add a mintmark if it was a genuine 1943 copper cent.

Ooops, I should know that. Good call.

PerryHall

The mintmark looks bad. Also, struck counterfeits are being produced. Has he checked it with a magnet?

Meltdown

@lcoopie said:
Photos pretty good
Cropping not so good 😀.

Agree. just a quick copy/paste...

Mr_Spud

You can see the steel peeking through in the area above “bus” in pluribus. I remember copper plating some 43 cents when I was about 8-9 years old. My older brother had bought me an electroplating science kit for Christmas. There was always a patch of steel showing through where I attached the paper clip to the coin that was attached with a wire to the battery similar to that coins “bus” area. I remember showing the plated coins to my brother in law that collected coins when he came over to visit and I tried to trick him by saying I found them in change. He fell for it at first til he noticed the steel peeking through.

jonathanb

@Mr_Spud said:
You can see the steel peeking through in the area above “bus” in pluribus.

I think that's dirt.

The OP said that it weighs 3.11 grams. If that's true, it's not steel. That might not be true after all. And even if true, it might still be bad for other reasons.

rte592

If the cousin. Sister. Brothers father is willing to swing over and see if it sticks to a magnet, that would be the first check before the scale.
Just saying...

jmlanzaf

@gumby1234 said:
Looks copper plated to me. If genuine it would be worth quite a bit. PCGS has only 5 43 S slabbed.

Wouldn't weigh 3.1 grams

Meltdown

@rte592 said:
If the cousin. Sister. Brothers father is willing to swing over and see if it sticks to a magnet, that would be the first check before the scale.
Just saying...

That's part of the information I'm waiting on... I'll keep you all posted.

FredWeinberg

Based on the photos and the weight, I believe it’s a counterfeit on a copper planchet.

It won’t be magnetic if its weight is 3.1 gms

gumby1234

@jmlanzaf its hearsay that the weight is 3.1 right now. The OP hasn't weighed it or even have it in hand. Either way I doubt that its genuine.

Fraz

jmlanzaf

@gumby1234 said:
@jmlanzaf its hearsay that the weight is 3.1 right now. The OP hasn't weighed it or even have it in hand. Either way I doubt that its genuine.

Sure. But it's worse than hearsay to say "plated" just because you don't like the odds of it being real. There is zero evidence that it is plated.

CRHer700

I'll say struck counterfeit~99%, real~1%, iffffff, and only iffffff it really weighs 3.11g. The letters seem slightly out of position, and slightly thicker than normal in the photos. Does it appear like this in person?

gumby1234

@jmlanzaf said:

@gumby1234 said:
@jmlanzaf its hearsay that the weight is 3.1 right now. The OP hasn't weighed it or even have it in hand. Either way I doubt that its genuine.

Sure. But it's worse than hearsay to say "plated" just because you don't like the odds of it being real. There is zero evidence that it is plated.

I said plated because it looks like its plated.

coinbuf

@Meltdown said:
The story is, his uncle (or father, I can't remember) had a vending business of some type in the 1980's and this has been in the family for a bunch of years.

I am in the vending industry, vending machines do not and have not accepted cents for longer than I have been alive. Which is well before the 80's so I am not sure what the relative being in the vending business has to do with anything. I hope it turns out to be real for your cousin, but from the photos I very much doubt it.

jmlanzaf

@gumby1234 said:

@jmlanzaf said:

@gumby1234 said:
@jmlanzaf its hearsay that the weight is 3.1 right now. The OP hasn't weighed it or even have it in hand. Either way I doubt that its genuine.

Sure. But it's worse than hearsay to say "plated" just because you don't like the odds of it being real. There is zero evidence that it is plated.

I said plated because it looks like its plated.

Based on...?

The wear pattern on the cheek looks genuine. There's no loss of detail or unusual smoothness that one often sees with plating.

Now, it could be plated or counterfeit. But I don't see any evidence other than the improbability of it being genuine.

gumby1234

@jmlanzaf Based on it looks plated to my eyes. I've seen plated cents that look the same as the OP coin. Does the color of the coin look natural to you?
If the OP gets to examine the coin in hand we will know more and maybe even have better pics.

gumby1234

You can buy these all day long for $5.

Greenstang

I’m with the counterfeit group. The “S” mint mark is the wrong style.

JBK

@coinbuf said:

@Meltdown said:
The story is, his uncle (or father, I can't remember) had a vending business of some type in the 1980's and this has been in the family for a bunch of years.

I am in the vending industry, vending machines do not and have not accepted cents for longer than I have been alive. Which is well before the 80's so I am not sure what the relative being in the vending business has to do with anything. I hope it turns out to be real for your cousin, but from the photos I very much doubt it.

The Post Office had stamp vending machines up through the 1990s at least, that took cents.

But I'm sure you were referring to regular vending machines.

coinbuf

@JBK said:

@coinbuf said:

@Meltdown said:
The story is, his uncle (or father, I can't remember) had a vending business of some type in the 1980's and this has been in the family for a bunch of years.

I am in the vending industry, vending machines do not and have not accepted cents for longer than I have been alive. Which is well before the 80's so I am not sure what the relative being in the vending business has to do with anything. I hope it turns out to be real for your cousin, but from the photos I very much doubt it.

The Post Office had stamp vending machines up through the 1990s at least, that took cents.

But I'm sure you were referring to regular vending machines.

Correct, I am referencing the machines that a normal person would have access to own and operate. The Gov is a totally different animal.

jmlanzaf

@gumby1234 said:
You can buy these all day long for $5.

Yes. I know. But the OPs coin does not look like that.

TwoSides2aCoin

There is rare and there is hope. Both are dashing.

BuffaloIronTail

![](https://us.v-cdn.net/6027503/uploads/editor/wa/qwtjz39gcwnj.png

This is the genuine mintmark for a 1943-S Cent

Click on the link.

Pete

ambro51

Fraz

I’m a jackleg at this, but my first impression was that the three looks zany.

Crypto

Looks counterfeit, Lincoln’s bust relief doesn’t look correct

Meltdown

Sorry guys, no update just yet...