Zinc Coated Steel Penny 1943

A few coins however were erroneously made of bronze the metal composition from the.

Zinc coated steel penny 1943.

If it looks more like a common brownish penny it may be one of the rare copper 1943 pennies. Pennies in 1943 were supposed to be made of zinc coated steel and those grey colored cents are quite common. 1943 steel cents are u s. In 1943 the penny was made out of zinc plated steel to save copper for the war effort which is why most 1943 pennies are silver colored.

See photo above for actual example. Zinc coated steel was used as the substitute metal composition and hence the new silver like coin is known as the wartime steel cent or steel penny. The 1943 silver colored penny is a wartime coin issue made of steel and coated with zinc. In the year 1943 the unites states issued the steel penny because the copper was needed for world war ii the steel look is actually the result of the mint using a zinc coating.

According to the american numismatic association the 1943 copper alloy cent is one of the most idealized and potentially one of the most sought after items in american numismatics. During world war ii the war effort required a lot of copper to make shell casings and munitions. If it is a silvery gray color it is probably a steel penny. As the 1943 steel pennies circulated the zinc coating started to turn dark gray and almost black.

During world war 2. The philadelphia denver and san francisco mints each produced these 1943 lincoln cents the unique composition of the coin low grade steel coated with zinc instead of the previously 95 copper based bronze composition has led to various nicknames such as wartime cent steel war penny. If it was in circulation long enough the zinc coating completely wore off and the steel underneath would start to show through. This applies within and even beyond the numismatic realm.

Make offer usa 1943 s 1 cent zinc coated steel coin lincoln cent wheat ears reverse rare 1943 lincoln wheat penny zinc steel coin philadelphia mint collectible 7 95 13h 25m. One cent coins that were struck in steel due to wartime shortages of copper. The us needed to allocate as much copper as possible for the war effort and this included copper used for minting lincoln cents at the us mint. Its zinc coated steel composition makes this coin resemble a dime more than a typical u s.

Nearly all circulating pennies at that time were struck in zinc coated steel because copper and nickel were needed for the allied war effort. There are few vintage coins as widely collected as the 1943 steel penny.