1943 Steel cent with weak 4 in the date

3sidesofsilver

What do you know about a 1943 P steel Lincoln that has a very weakly struck 4 in the date? I have a nice UNC one but have not been able to find anything regarding this coin, even if is a recognized variety. Any help is appreciated.

Walkerguy21D

I recall seeing some of these - having had ~90 rolls of steel cents at one time, probably
not surprising I guess.
I assumed it was a simple (probably grease) filled die, and worth no premium as such.
But maybe someone else can enlighten both of us.

FredWeinberg

It's a very common 'filled die'

(Not a variety)

......an interesting conversation piece, but that's
About all it is.....fun to find, but more exist than
There are collectors of them.

Hope this helps....

ricko

Yep, I have a couple.... have not checked my roll of '43's, but I kept those two just as

novelties... Cheers, RickO

errormaven

I see these all the time and from all three mints (Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco). The great puzzle is why this particular digit is so often the site of a filled die error. I don't know of any other feature on any other coin that is repeatedly affected to the exclusion of nearby features. Ken Potter has been scratching his head over this pattern for years. If anybody here can offer an explanation, please do so.

BillJones

When I was young numismatist in the 1960s, I set aside every steel cent that I found in circulation. A fair number of them had missing or weak numbers in the date. It is not unusual to find steel cents with that feature.

Steel is much harder than bronze. I've never seen any statistics, but I would guess that the mints went through more dies in 1943 relative to the mintages than it did in the previous and succeeding years. Striking issues like this are more often found on the steel cents.

Walkerguy21D

but I would guess that the mints went through more dies in 1943 relative to the mintages than it did in the previous and succeeding years.

I recall long ago forum member Stone was doing some kind of study on die cuds on steel cents.
I sent him one gratas that had a pretty substantial cud on the reverse.

3sidesofsilver

Thank you to all. Much appreciated and enlightening. As a side note, the coin has a bluish tint over the entire obv and rev surfaces; perhaps that is another feature of zinc coated steel cents...