I work for a bank here in Baltimore. When we are slow, I will walk behind the teller line and chit chat with the tellers and see if any coins of interest were deposited. Today I found a small hoard of Steel Wheaties. A customer brought in 26 1943 Steel cents. I have seen these before at shows and coin shops, but do have have any in my collection. I wound up splitting them up with two tellers. Each of the tellers took five, and I took 16. The same customer also deposited seven wheaties. I came home today with 16 steel, and seven copper wheaties. I was pretty excited/happy with my find. My primary interest is in collecting Morgans, bit I do not always have the $$$ to add to my collection. I have recently started to fill albums with Lincoln cents out of my change and what I come across in the bank. I am having fun in doing this. I am a history buff as well, and thought it was really cool that these coins I brought home today were probably in the pockets of GI's during WWII. Anyways, I thought I would share my find today with the group. 1932 D 1934 1941 (2) 1943 (16) 1944 1945 (2)
My best "bank find" was from last September. A customer exchanged a "silver dollar" for a paper bill. The customer said the coin was their grandfather's who had passed away, and they did not want it, so they traded it for a paper one dollar bill. I always walk through the teller line looking to see if anything interesting was deposited/exchanged. I could not buy the the "silver dollar" fast enough from the teller, a 1896 Philadelphia Mint Morgan Silver Dollar. I graded the coin MS-62, and have had the coin in a flip since last Fall. I recently sent the coin to NGC to be graded. It came back MS-64! Can you say "sweet"? I already have a 1896 MS-64 for my collection, so the the other coin is going to be traded/sold, and the $1 bank find is going in my collection. Here is the coin: http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/CertResults.aspx?CertNumber=4069761-004
I always ask for rolls that customers bring in. Especially penny rolls. Ive found rolls and rolls of unc wheat pennies like this 1 day.
I kind of doubt this. By early to mid-1943, when the new 1943 coinage would have come out, I bet most soldiers were already shipped off. It'd probably just be new 18 year olds and such shipping out in 1943. I can't find any soldier count by year though, so I guess I could be wrong. Also, I don't know what they'd be doing taking a pocketful of US cents overseas. I'd say very few of the steelies were handled by enlisted GIs. Perhaps maybe when the war was over.
Cool:thumb::thumb: I just picked up 4 silver GW Quarter 2 @ 25c per,1942 47-D 1956and them most common one 1964 :kewl:
I knew a WWII navigator who was captured by the SWISS! He had a Lincoln cent in his pocket which he gave to a waitress at the internment camp. It made quite an impression on her.
