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Re: 1943 not-lead pennIEs magnet wont pick up

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Posted by JeffK on December 09, 2009 at 20:23:43:

In Reply to: 1943 lead pennys magnet wont pick up posted by Darren Gray on December 08, 2009 at 23:20:04:

To clear things up, (a) the US has never made lead pennies and (b) the previous phrase shows the plural of "penny"

STEEL cents were made in 1943 to save copper for the war effort. They're all attracted to a magnet because steel is a ferrous metal.

If your coin has any other date on it, it's either plated or unplated. That sounds strange, but regular copper (or copper-plated zinc) cents that have been plated with a silver-colored metal turn up in change from time to time. They're used in jewelry and such but aren't worth anything extra.

On the other hand, some modern (post-1982) cents are missing the normal copper plating that makes them look like older cents even though they're now mostly zinc. Zinc is also silver in color, so that's how a silver-looking cent can be caused by being plated OR unplated.

Unplated zinc cents can be valuable but anything you find would have to be examined in person to determine what you really have.

: how much are these pennys worth they cannot be picked up with a magnet

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: To clear things up, (a) the US has never made lead pennies and (b) the previous phrase shows the plural of "penny"

: STEEL cents were made in 1943 to save copper for the war effort.  They're all attracted to a magnet because steel is a ferrous metal.

: If your coin has any other date on it, it's either plated or unplated.  That sounds strange, but regular copper (or copper-plated zinc) cents that have been plated with a silver-colored metal turn up in change from time to time. They're used in jewelry and such but aren't worth anything extra.

: On the other hand, some modern (post-1982) cents are missing the normal copper plating that makes them look like older cents even though they're now mostly zinc. Zinc is also silver in color, so that's how a silver-looking cent can be caused by being plated OR unplated.

: Unplated zinc cents can be valuable but anything you find would have to be examined in person to determine what you really have.

: : how much are these pennys worth they cannot be picked up with a magnet



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