did they really do this with steel cents?

No I don't think they would make that mistake again. I think you are much more likely to see either copper plated steel or copper plated aluminum.

Copperplated steel has the advantage that they would weigh almost the same as the current cents and they coould make roughly the same number of coins from a pound of metal that they do today. Downside is that steel is harder than zinc so die life may decline.

Copperplated aluminum would cost nearly as much per pound as the current composition but would weigh less than half as much as the current cent. That means they could strike more than twice as many coins from a pound of metal than they can now, and due to the lighter weight, shipping costs would possibly be less as well. The softer metal would also result in a longer die life. (The aluminum does have to be plated to extend the die life though. Unplated aluminum develops a surface coating of aluminum oxide, rated at 9 on the hardness scale, Striking results in metal flow draging this oxide coating over the surface of the die, hardness of about 7, and causes excessive die wear.)

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

aluminum cent

why not use pure aluminum for cent?. will it be cheaper that way?.

 

See the last part of my previous post. The aluminum oxide on the surfaces of the planchet would result in excessive die wear. Plating the planchet reduces, but does not eliminate, the problem.

 

Maybe the mint scoop them back out of the ocean, the rolls of I have with all the rust look like it.

 

if they made it out of pure aluminum, it would bend easy. same as any kind of metal. if you have 100% of one kind of metal, it will bend easy.:hammer:

 

about every steel cent i have has rust on it. i imagine its hard to find one without rust!

 

I have a few without rust on them. I actually have one that is in very good condition and looks brand new and has some shine to it. Unfortunately, on the reverse, it looks like a bit of mold is growing on it.

I don't even want to try to clean it, but sometimes i think it would be better.

 

In 1943 the first steel pennies were released into circulation. The U.S army needed copper to make supplies for the war effort so the mint started experimenting different type of metals that could be used on the cent. They ended up choosing steel plated zinc composition, the mint decided to use this composition for 3 years. When the new cents were placed in circulation, people began to hoard them and they claimed that it looks like a dime (like the problem with the SBA dollar in 1979). Eventually the mint decided to use its former 95% copper composition in 1944 which made 1943 the only steel cents minted. A total of 1,093,838,670 steel pennies were minted from all three mints. Beginning in 1945 the mint quietly reclaimed as much steel cents as possible and reclaimed 163 million or about 14.9% of all steel cents in circulation in 20 years and were melted down.

 

Bloody thirteen year old thread.......start a new one for goodness sakes.......