Crime film from 1949 mentions automobile company offering a new car for a rare penny

I watched the 1949 crime film "Scene of the Crime" a few days ago and spotted an interesting piece of dialog.

An informer tells police detective Van Johnson about two crooks, Turk and Lafe:



Loomis, the shoeshine man to Van Johnson:
Turk, he's the smart one.
Lafe, he's childish-like. A big kid.
He saves things.
Anything -- stamps, match covers, pennies.
He's looking for the kind of penny that automobile companies are supposed to give a new automobile for.
He's gone. Real gone.

Later the detective searches Lafe's apartment and finds a box full of pennies (cents).


Box with pennies

I was curious about the "kind of penny" and found that the closest match would be the rare 1943 copper cent, which got a lot of publicity when one was found in 1944 by a coin collector in Long Beach, California.

In 1947 there was a rumor that the Ford Motor Company would give a new car for such a penny.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-cented-garden

Did Texas coin dealer Max Mehl, who offered large amounts for rare coins in the 1930's and 1940's, help this story along?

 

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