Below the denomination is the legend United States of America in a medium font. At the top, E Pluribus Unum runs between the wheat tips, followed by One Cent in a large font. They’re arranged towards the left and right rims of the coin, framing the legends and mottos on the coin. The reverse (tails side) of the 1943 Steel Penny features two sheaves of wheat. The designer’s initials, VDB for Victor David Brenner, are on the shoulder cut-off line in Lincoln’s portrait. On the left, behind his back, is the legend Liberty. On the right, in front of his chest, is the date and mint mark. The motto In God We Trust runs along the rim above his head. The obverse (heads side) of the 1943 Steel Penny shows Abraham Lincoln facing right. The Obverse of the 1943 Steel Penny Image: ngccoin We’ll talk more about BU grades later in this article, but first, let’s explore the 1943 Steel Penny’s features. The coin might then be graded as Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) and you might pay more for it if you’re unfamiliar with this practice. Unscrupulous dealers will sometimes ‘reprocess’ a coin by removing the original zinc coat and adding new zinc and/or chrome. Also, as you collect and sell 1943 Steel Pennies, look out for sneaky coin alterations. This price difference provides revenue for the mint. Seignorage is the difference between the production cost and the face value of currency. While the public disliked steel pennies, the mint appreciated their profitability, since their seignorage was way higher than copper/bronze cents. Many steel cents were recalled and melted by the mint, but some are still circulating. This brass was strengthened with pure copper. The rest of the 1944 to 1946 cents were minted on brass planchets made from the salvaged shell casings gathered on the battlefield. Counterfeit Copper CoinsĪ few steelies were inadvertently minted in 1944 using the same metal mixes and dies as 1943 cents. Steelies were meant to run for the entire war period but due to these issues, they only lasted a year. And some citizens mistook these steelies for dimes. These machines were built for copper coins, so they were programmed to catch steel fakes aka slugs. But back to the steelies.Īs we’ve just mentioned, the wartime cent was magnetic, so it stymied counterfeit detectors in vending machines. Steelies are 2.7g while bronze coins are 3.11g, so with or without copper plating, the difference in mass is a dead giveaway. Conversely, a genuine bronze cent has no iron or steel content so it won’t react to a magnet. How? Fake 1943 bronze cents will have a steelie underneath, so you can pick them up with a magnet. Since they’re worth a lot, bronze 1943 pennies are commonly counterfeited by coating steelies in copper. Someone found it in the yard in 1969 and used a vice to straighten it, not knowing it was a priceless rarity! And as we said before, some bronze coins were accidentally minted. Unusual 1943 PenniesĪt least one example exists in 86.41% tin with 8.37% antimony. Starting in 1942, the mint experimented with pennies made from fiberglass, plastic, aluminum, lead, tempered glass, hard rubber, white metal, bakelite, and manganese. Interestingly, steel wasn’t the first alternative they tested. This meant as the coins circulated, people would touch the edges with sweaty fingers and the moisture would cause these surfaces to rust. As the planchet went into the blanking machine to be cut into blank discs, the ungalvanized edges of the coin got exposed by the slicing action. The zinc plating was intended to prevent rust, but since the top coat was applied to the planchet sheet before punching, that didn’t always work. It’s sometimes known as the Steel War Penny, Wartime Cent, Steelie, or Zinc Cent. Then in the war years ( 1942 to 1945), the military needed copper for ammunition and equipment so we switched to steel cents: 99% low-grade carbon steel topped with zinc. In both cases, the bulk of the coin was copper. But in 1857 it had 12% nickel and in 1864 it switched to 5% zinc and/or tin. We often think of the penny as a copper coin. 1943 Steel Penny Varieties and Value Guideġ943 (P) No Mint Mark Bronze/Copper Penny Valueġ943-D Boldly Double Mint Marked D/D RPM Steel Penny Value.
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