Plating with silver, pewter, or mercury.There are many reasons why a penny could appear silver.

Since I’ve been getting so many questions about silver pennies on a regular basis, I’ve decided that it’s time to write a post about them and hopefully help answer some readers’ questions. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about their 1961 silver penny. However, many of these questions about silver pennies have nothing to do with 1943 Lincoln cents or even the highly rare 1944 steel cent (a mint error caused by leftover steel coin blanks getting accidentally getting stamped with the 1944 coin die). Crisp, white Mercury dimes with blazing luster and clean (not cleaned) surfaces are a true treasure for Mercury dime aficionados, and an acquisition that, should the time come that you sell your 1943 dimes, may bring many great returns.Of course, many of these silver one-cent coins are 1943 pennies, which really aren’t silver pennies - they’re actually made with zinc-coated steel. You’ll need to spend more to purchase FSB specimens from that year, but they are available and usually at a price that won’t break the budget. If you’re seeking 1943 Mercury dimes in gem MS-65 grades, you could theoretically buy an example from each of the three mints (Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco) for under $100 total. * Values are for coins in a grade of Extremely Fine-40.

Here’s a look at mintage figures and values for 1943 Mercury dimes: Such high-caliber pieces are scarce, even for the high-production year of 1943, though not out of the question for coin collectors with a few pretty pennies to spare. Common across virtually all grades, 1943 Mercury dimes pose few collecting challenges for numismatists, save for those who want ultra high-grade specimens with fully split bands (FSB). With no overdates, no proofs, and well more than 300 million Mercury dimes struck, 1943 is a highly affordable date for aficionados of the Winged Liberty Head dime series.

Mercury dime 1942 difference