TRIVIA: Only US Mint's Circulation Coin Without Copper In It

Every single U.S. coin ever struck by the U.S. Mint as a business strike (for general circulation) has some amount of copper in it, except one.

First of all, let me make one thing clear. I am referring to U.S. coins that have been struck by the U.S. Mint for general circulation, so that eliminates any bullion coins, such as the Silver Eagles, Gold Eagles and Platinum Eagles series. The other coins I am ruling out are pre-federal issues, such as colonial coins (although plenty of them had high amounts of copper).

According to Mint records during the U.S. Mint's issuing of business strike coinage since 1792, every coin (except one) had at least a little bit of copper in it. Even coins such as the Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars have a little bit of copper (90% silver, 10% copper.) The circulating gold coins of the past have some copper, too (ranging from 8.5% to 10%.) All Nickels have a composition of 75% copper and 25% Nickel! Even pre-1965 Dimes, Quarters and Half Dollars contains 10% Copper.

What about the Cent, you ask? You know the Cent, of course, was mostly Copper until 1982 when it became a Copper and (mostly) zinc mixture <b>except for one<b>.


THE 1943! That's right! Owing to a shortage of Copper during the critical World War II year of 1943, the Treasury Department resorted to the use of Zinc-coated Steel for the Cent. Following photos courtesy of Coin Page (worldcoingallery.com):

1943 Cent

1943-D Cent

1943-S Cent

Hope you enjoyed this trivia...



Clinker

 

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The answer should have been obvious to me, but I missed it.

Thanks for sharing Clinker.

 

Cool, thanks for the info. I was trying to go through gold/silver stuff in my mind. The '43 makes much more sense.

 

I like it. I wouldn't have thought about the steel penny.

 

Interesting - first, when I just saw the topic title, I wondered what that coin could be. Had not thought of that steel penny either. Duh, I even have one of those.

Christian

 

I remembered something about the steel cent. Is it really true that there wasn't enough copper back then or it was just mere propaganda?

http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php...__449070__hl__1943__fromsearch__1#entry449070

 

Thanks Clinker

Haha me too!

 

That is an interesting trivia item that I will file away to use in the future. Thanks.

 

Thanks to all of you who read this trivia, but a special T H A N K Y O U to you who commented!

Clinker

 

I also feel that I should have known, but couldn't figure it out. Awesome trivia (as always) Clinker!

 

Ditto...
Thanks Clinker!!

 

Was there enough copper? Perhaps. But the fears of running out of copper were far from groundless. Demand for copper increased greatly for materiel production and at the same time the supply lines from Chile and the Belgian Congo were seen as vulnerable to disruption. The decision to make steel cents was more out of an expectation of a shortage rather than an actual shortage.

In late 1942, the concern about copper shortages was so great that the Manhattan Project "borrowed" 14,700 tons of silver from the Treasury and used it to make wire for electromagnets. There's little doubt that General Groves could have gotten the copper instead, but that would mean answering awkward questions about a top-secret project.

BTW, the link is partially incorrect. Copper was not shipped back from the battlefields to make the "so-called" shell case cents. Most of it didn't come from shells at all, and that which did was from domestic shells -- either from rounds which were never shipped out or expended in practice.

 

>Hey benveniste...

Good to read your comment and your input. Thanks...

Clinker

 

Good post about "shell case" cents. My grandfather was a private on a range where they trained recruits and was responsible for getting the spent shells gathered up. The big ones were easy, but the little ones would get lost easily but he was responsible for getting 90% of the shells back. In late 42 he told me that it was upped to 100% of the shells, and he resorted to having trainees dig around the shooting positions to get him shells to return. No one left the range until he got his 100% empty shell quota, and sometimes that took a couple of hours. Also, I was told in 1943 they started to tear down berms and run the dirt though sifters to retrieve spent bullets, starting on the artillery range but later on with the small fire ranges as well. Not sure about how much correlation there is from this story and the idea of a copper shortage, but thought I would relay it.

 

Is this a repeat TRIVIA post? I could have sworn I've read it before.

Anyway, as always, your posts are lots of fun and interesting!

 

OK, so what U.S. Coin has the most copper content?

 

I would guess the Chain cent.

 

Here is the answers: The bold one near the bottom is the correct answer.

Copper Content of U. S. Business Strike Coins:
6.74 Grams Half Cent 1793-1797
5.44 Grams Half Cent 1800-1857
13.48 Grams One Cent 1793-1795 (Thicker Planchets)
10.89 Grams One Cent 1795-1796
10.98 Grams One Cent 1796-1807
10.89 Grams One Cent 1808-1857
4.12 Grams One Cent 1856-1864
2.95 Grams One Cent 1864-1942
2.95 Grams One Cent 1944-1982
5.91 Grams Two Cent 1864-1873
.20 Grams Silver Three Cent 1851-1853
.075 Grams Silver Three Cent 1854-1873
.049 Grams Nickel Three Cent 1865-1889
.015 Grams Half Dime1794-1837
.013 Grams Half Dime 1837-1853
.012 Grams Half Dime 1853-1873
3.75 Grams Nickel 1866-1942
2.13 Grams Nickel 1942-1945 (War time Nickel)
3.75 Grams Nickel 1946-1986
.291 Grams Dimes 1796-1837
.267 Grams Dimes 1837-1853
.249 Grams Dimes 1853-1873
.250 Grams Dimes 1873-1964
1.70 Grams Dimes 1965-2006
.50 Grams Twenty Cent 1875-1878
.725 Grams Quarter (27 Mill) 1796-1928
.668 Grams Quarter 24.3 Mill) 1831-1891
.625 Grams Quarter 1892-1964
4.25 Grams Quarter 1965-1976
4.54 Grams Quarter Silver issue 1976
4.25 Grams Quarter 1977-2006
1.48 Grams Half Dollar (32.5 Mill) 1794-1836
1.34 Grams Half Dollar (30 Mill) 1836-1839
1.34 Grams Half Dollar (30.6 Mill) 1839-1853
1.24 Grams Half Dollar 1853- 1853-1873
1.25 Grams Half Dollar 1873- 1964
2.30 Grams (40% Silver) 1965- 1970
8.50 Grams Clad Halves 1976- 1974
7.15 Grams Silver Composition 1976 Half Dollar
8.50 Grams Clad Halves 1977-2006
2.90 Grams Silver Dollar (39-40 Mill) 1794-1804
2.67 Grams Gobrecht Dollar 38.1 (Mill) 1836- 1873
2.72 Grams Trade Dollar 1873-1875
2.67 Grams Morgan Dollar 1878-1921
2.67 Grams Peace Dollar 1921-1935
17.01 Grams Eisenhower Dollar Clad 1971-1978
15.65 Grams Eisenhower Dollar Clad 1976
6.07 Grams Anthony Dollar 1979-1981 & 1999

 

Cool, thanks for the info. Totally forgot about clad dollars when I was thinking silver dollars.

 

Thanks for sharing those statistics...

Clinker