So just what did happen to all of those 1943 steel cents?

Okay, so far I've heard two rumors:

Rumor #1: Someone on the Google Group Newsgroup rec.collecting.coins said years ago, that, for years after the war, the steel cents were culled from circulation, sealed in 55 gallon steel drums and tossed into the ocean (Supposedly it was not worth recovering the steel because of the zinc plating?) This would be a stupid thing to do, because the government would know, or should have known many people would want and pay money from the steelies.

Rumor #2 heard here on Coin Talk: Someone said that the steel cents were culled from circulation and given to a steel mill that was allowed to have them, as long as they melted them down, to use for other steel products. A much better choice to get rid of them in my opinion.

So, can anyone here verify these rumors of which one is true, or if there are any other rumors? Could the government have a fairly large amount of of steelies in a vault somewhere for a purpose?

 

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On February 27th, the first delivery of cents was made to the Treasury and within a few weeks, the steel cents were in circulation. Although the Treasury Department assured the public that the coin, after being in circulation for a while, would gain a distinct appearance, many people noticed the color resemblance of a dime. Complaints continued to pour into the Treasury. For example, due to there magnetic property, many mechanical devices treated the new cent as a slug. Back then, there were quite a few uses for the cent and this was a big deal.

The new cent was so much hated by the public that the Treasury was moved to issue them only when bronze-copper cents were not available. Still, demand for cents for business was so great, that the public was forced to use them as that was what was available. In the fall of 1943, the Treasury announced that no steel cents would be produced after December 31, 1943 and that the mint would produce cents from the pre-war alloy, but without tin. These cents, from 1944 through 1946 were to be known as shell-case cents, as the metal generally came from spent shell-casings. It was also announced that there would be no recall of the steel cent.
After the war, the Treasury did begin recalling steel cents for the next 20 years. Although not publicized, coins were to be returned to the treasury in the normal course of business. By 1950, steel cents were becoming scarce and by 1960, nearly non-existent. By this time, steel cents had deteriorated quite a bit. The Mint had coated the steel strips before punching leaving the edge of the coin subject to rust and corrosion. Even though a recall was in effect, the Mints own records indicate over 930 million remained in circulation.

In conclusion, I have heard they scuttled them in a ship back in the early 60's, however this official source doesnt state how or where they were destroyed
However to note with a mintage of 1093838670
Only 10% of the mintage was destroyed by the mint.
Nothing extremely singificant when compared to the morgan dollar.
I wonder whats going on with the Ike's though

 

It should be "their"...you can probably be forgiven for missing it though...after all, it's tough to check grammar as "your" copying and pasting someone else's work.

You were going to come back and edit the post to credit the author, right?

 

I know the government did actively withdraw the steel cents from circulation (about 1/10 of the total struck) but I can't say for sure if they were disposed of at sea or melted down.

 

Personally, I think they were pulled out of circulation to a much greater extent by the public than the government. Any older relative when I was a kid who heard I liked coins have some steel cents for me, (most called them lead cents). My uncle gave me some, but had a large coffee container full of them.

I would not underestimate the US public's desire to hoard away any unusual coins. Until the state quarter program, I believe every house in America had bicentennial quarters somewhere because they were "different".

 

I didn't realize there was a shortage. I have about five obw rolls of the steel cents and from other sales of them they don't seem to bring much. I suspect they're just sitting around in collections and hoards. The barrels they would have had to use to dump them at sea would have cost more than the cents within them, so that sounds the least plausible theory.
Guy

 

I agree that they seem plentiful...I have some OBW rolls, also. However, their magnetic quality would have made it easy for the banks to remove them from circulation if they wanted to...I would think.

 

People didn't like the steel cents primarily because they corroded so quickly. They were not only unsightly but would actually be rusty. The attrition on these was high for several reasons but any lost on the ground would rust away in only a couple years. The value of the cent was getting pretty low by the mid-'50's so many bad ones would be tossed in the trash. Being magnetic would lead to some being lost in industrial settings. The primary cause of attrition were people settinmg them aside as collectibles but the treasury program wasn't far behind. I remember them being common up until 1960 and then plummeting over the next couple years. This might merely mean the Chicago FED didn't get serious about removing them until later than other areas.

Up until 1957 or so you'd still see nice uncorroded examples in circulation once in a while.

 

Who ever said there was a shortage. Even with the government actively withdrawing them the public still pulled and held the loins share of them.