As you know, because of the United States of America's commitment to World War II, two coins' composition were changed resulting in the production of silver Nickels (1942 - 1945) and zinc coated Cents (1943). Also, as you know, most every mint in the world strikes patterns to test the effect, quality wise, of the design being struck on various planchet compositions. Just what is a pattern coin? About.com gives this definition: "A pattern coin is a coin that has been created as an example, and is not meant for circulation. Pattern coins have been created for a variety of reasons, including sample coins for VIPs (such as congressmen voting on coin legislation), and for testing various designs and die cuts in the mint equipment." Wikipedia gives us this definition: "A pattern coin is a coin produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design, but which was not approved for general circulation. They are often off-metal strikes, to proof standard or piedforts. Patterns are collected by many coin collectors, and although some decide to focus upon them alone, they are generally of interest to all coin collectors because of their highly elaborate designs." Wikipedia explains further: "It almost goes without saying that pattern coins, insofar as they were required at least as test pieces for the coin to be issued must surely have existed since the earliest time of coinage. Unfortunately we cannot identify the earliest coins of this type positively." uspatterns.com welcomes you to The Society of U. S. Pattern Collectors website with this explanation: "For those of you not familiar with this fascinating area of numismatics, patterns are prototypes for coins that, for the most part, were never approved for circulation. Most patterns are very rare, some unique, and others unknown outside of museums." Wikipedia's definition above included piedforts. There are other considerations for inclusion in the subject of Patterns besides piedforts. Those being essais (essays) and trial strikes. This being a "trivia" article, I am not covering every aspect of pattern coinage, but am exploring what "might of been" due to the pattern coinage struck/produced to mint the 1943 Cent. There were two different designs struck on various composition planchets: regular Cent design and a Columbian 2 Centavo design. The regular Cent design: One of the first pattern Cents struck as a test for the 1943 Cent is this 1942 Aluminum pattern photo courtesy of Coin Link: Some say this is a proof coin, some declare its simply MS65, however all agree the planchet is extra thick (almost a piedfort): http://www.coinlink.com/News/us-coi...rimental-alluminum-alloy-1942-cent-judd-2079/ Other pattern 1942 One Cent coins struck to test various compositions for 1943 One Cent pieces include this white metal (95% tin, 5% copper): http://uspatterns.com/p2077.html The One Cent pattern was also struck on blanks made of: 9% tin, 7% antimony Columbian 2 Centavo Design: Second pattern coin struck in 1942 to test a different composition other than copper is this (courtesy of uspatterns.com)( click photo for enlargement): http://uspatterns.com/p2073.html The Columbian 2 Centavo experimental pieces were struck in various metals at the mint and in various plastics provided by private firms as a possible replacement for copper, tin and nickel which were needed to fight World War II. Metals: Aluminum Bronze Brass Lead Manganese White Metal Zinc Zinc Coated Steel Planchets were also provided by the following companies in various plastics - Durez Plastics and Chemicals, the Patent Button Company, Blue Ridge Glass Corporation, Bakelite Corporation and Colt Patent Firearms Company. Other compositions include: Amber Plastic (transparent) Bakelite Brass-colored Plastic Brown Plastic Cardboard Dark Tan-colored Plastic Hard Rubber Fibrous Hard Black Fabric-like Material Light Tan-colored Plastic Red Fibrous Reddish Brown Plastic (type 1) Reddish Brown Plastic (type 2) Rust Colored Plastic Tempered Glass We all know Zinc Coated Steel was chosen, but I thought you would enjoy knowing, "What might have been." Clinker
A Big HELLO and a bigger THANKS for readfing and giving another positive comment on one of my posts... Clinker
To CamaroDMD: Great to see your Coin Talk User Name grace the posting of another positive comment...:bow: Clinker
Great info. Roger Burdette has written a couple of articles on this subject. My favorite is the one about proposed half dimes. The mint chose to strike the war nickels instead, but apparently three cent coins, and five cent coins in 90% were considered. This was also one of the first iterations of what would later become the Franklin half dollar.
