Steal Penny

PerfectCreature

So I was checking out at walmart and I bought something for like 9.88 or something like that. In any case the lady hands me back some pennies and a dime...I get to the car to dump my change and I looked at my change and it was all silver, I was thinking this is to large to be a dime. It was a wheat penny, I have tons of them, around 5 or 600 of them actually. I thought someone has painted these two silver. Then something struck in my mind. The year 1943...world war...I was thinking no way. I had heard about in class how they had made pennies out of steal or whatever to save the copper. Never thought I'd see one though.
So, I now have 2 1943 steal pennies. I was pretty stoked; one is in horrible shape and had crap all over it the other is in almost mint.

What can I use that is safe for the metal to clean them up a bit.
Thanks.

shack

It's steel coated with zinc. DON'T try to clean it because if you wear off the zinc and there is any moisture it WILL rust and you may destroy any value it may have (10-50 cents).

PerfectCreature

Eh, I figured it would be rather hard to clean given what it is coated with. I didn't care how much it was worth, just the fact it is rather amusing. Out of the ordinary.
I poked around but can't find much.

PerfectCreature

Heh, I would have a new house and car if I had a copper one lol.
At least in my area....Houses can be had for around 40-75k the best ones. Much better than my uncles house which he paid about 580k for ....in Florida.
Oh well, in any case it complements my mini-collection.
Have quite a few of those bicentennial quarters too. Always liked them because of the back.

Rough deal, much like when my bud pawned my CDs....
Of course I am sure that yours was worth much more than my loss. Given todays access to music.

bobman1235

You shouldn't steal those steel pennies.

PerfectCreature

Haha, very funny. I guess my father has an uncirculated steel penny. He alsways has to one-up me.

Demiurge

Blinker Fluid will clean those right up.

Rivrrat

The best way to ruin a coin's value is to clean it, leave it alone.

Steel pennies are cool. I have a bunch from when I collected coins when I was a kid.

Polkersince85

When I was a kid back in the late 50s-early 60s, my Dad would give us $2 a week in allowance; in silver dollars and halves. Still have a lot of them.

I've seen when times are tough like now days, where people start spending their collections. Stay on the lookout.

PerfectCreature

Demiurge wrote: »

Blinker Fluid will clean those right up.

You guys just don't give up....
Ah well. They are amusing. Maybe I will find more along the way. Who knows, my cashiers deal with a lot of money maybe I can get them to find me some.

Rivrrat

Polkersince85 wrote: »

When I was a kid back in the late 50s-early 60s, my Dad would give us $2 a week in allowance; in silver dollars and halves. Still have a lot of them.

I've seen when times are tough like now days, where people start spending their collections. Stay on the lookout.

I found a silver dime in my change this week, I really hadn't thought of that. I'd sell mine at a coin shop before I spent it for face value.

mdaudioguy

Coins were more fun to collect before they started minting collectible coins.

PerfectCreature

Ah true. It is the same with everything. I used to play that Magic game when I was a kid, they kept printing the good cards that I worked hard to get so I quit, sold my stuff made about $800 cash at the card shop.
Same place I had my coin looked at.

jawhog

I got a 1964 silver quarter a few months back too. I didn't even know I had it, but as I walked to the pop machine shaking the quarters I could hear that one sounded different. I looked at it and thought, weird, looks different. I was going to save it, but it was my last change and I just put it in the machine. Funny thing is, the machine wouldn't even take it. I guess it was too heavy or something. So now I just keep carrying it around in my briefcase. I think it's worth like $2.

Knucklehead

I have a handful of pennies from 1943 as well, they used the Copper for the war effort, hang on to them.

Rivrrat

jawhog wrote: »

I got a 1964 silver quarter a few months back too. I didn't even know I had it, but as I walked to the pop machine shaking the quarters I could hear that one sounded different. I looked at it and thought, weird, looks different. I was going to save it, but it was my last change and I just put it in the machine. Funny thing is, the machine wouldn't even take it. I guess it was too heavy or something. So now I just keep carrying it around in my briefcase. I think it's worth like $2.

That's exactly how I discovered the silver dime. The pop machine wouldn't take it, so I looked at it and discovered it was silver.

PerfectCreature

Those damn machines, so picky. Would be a funny joke to pop one back 20-30 years. Watch them never ever get a drink.
Yeah, I ought to try it. See if my coke machine at work will take my silver quarters....

Mike Kozak

I have not cleaned myself in 47 years, does that mean I am worth something??

Tony M

I handled a 43 copper penny when I was about 13 or 15. It was in a protective case but I got to flip it around slowly in my hand in the coin shop. It had a price of 10,000.00 back then if I remember right. At least I can say I saw one in my hand.:D

I used to hang out in coin shops and amassed quite a collection. I sold it to help put a down payment on this house. I kept a couple real cool things though.

I speacialized in Indian Head pennies. Even had a proof one. Talk about patina.... I love copper patina.:D

PerfectCreature

Yeah, cool stuff. The money as the years go by how it changes.
My mother has some Japanese money from various ages, along with random bits of German money..