Can't believe my eyes

[Dark Water]

Can someone please explain this to me? I was under the impression that steel pennies were only minted in 1943. I bought a bowl full of steel pennies to make a peice of art with, some in good shape, others not so good. This one had the date completely illegible so I tried soking it in olive oil for about a week to weaken the rust, then used a weak solution of battery acid, one drop at a time for no longer than three seconds at a time to remove the rust until a date became visible. I did not expect to find this though. The corrosion on the rest of the coin is far too deep for it to be steel plated, but the date doesn't make sense. Is it some sort of mint error or perhaps a counterfeit?

[Steven]

Looks like 43 to me...

[Dark Water]

yes, these pictures don't actually show the specific way the light catches it which would make people think otherwise which is why I posted them instead.

[numismanut]

Seems like 43 to me. Often I find that it is easier to tell whether you're seeing things when you take a photo. Non-43 steel cents would (generally) be one good case of seeing things

[Dark Water]

Ok, how about this one? There seems to be something behind the three.

[Dark Water]

Now look at the last picture of the first coin again, at that angle a straight line can be seen extending from top to middle.

What I think is that it is a die lamination on both accounts, just in seperate locations. One showing an extension reaching back from the middle of the "3", and the other occuring in front of the "3" to cause it to appear as a "5".

[Dark Water]

Next question

1929 Capped Bust Dime. Is it a curled 2, or a straight 2?

Notice the fat tail as opposed to the skinny one on a straight 2. The wear on the bottom makes proper identification difficult. I've been told that it is a straight two, and admittedly I bought it thinking it as such, though the person that owned it previously had it labelled as a Capped Bust Half-Dime, so it is possible he didn't know what he had.

[Dark Water]

This one is my personal favorite!

Is it a Cold War Era spy penny?

Notice on the last picture that there is seperate writing underneath what is readliy visible. It says: 10:35 AM TUES 10-14-52, SANDFORD AVE, IN ST. NEAR S.O: AVE, NWK.

Kind of makes you wonder what happened there doesn't it?