Is this the only year lincolns came in this composition? Reason i ask is because i thought 1944 was the year for this. Im obviously green when it comes to lincolns
All of them although a few copper have surfaced over the years. I just cannot recall where and how many. There were not supposed to be any copper. The War campaign asked all citizens to turn in any copper they had. As well as most other scrap metal that needed to be melted down to make planes and tanks, ships, etc.
There was a different composition 1944 - 1946 (no tin), but the best records available seem to indicate that NO shell casings were used for American coinage. I realize that there are numerous sources out there to the contrary, but mint records so far do not support their use.
I found this post; QUOTE="Conder101, post: 1639869, member: 66"]In Roger Burdette's new book United states Pattern & Experimental pieces of WWII, he does cite records that indicate that the mints DID use recycled shell cases and that the cases were from US training facilities. "Railroad gondola cars filled with shellcases soon appeared at mint facilities."(291) "US cents consumed 3,500 pounds of cartridge cases per day, six days a week, at the Philadelphia Mint. They were also the primary metal for a two-franc brass coin (21,000 pounds per day) and Peruvian coinage that was expected to consume over 275,000 pounds on completion.(292) The War Production Board had allocated 1,200,000 pounds (600 tons) to the Philadelphia Mint and equivalent amounts to the other mints. Shipments were scheduled to arrive every five days." 291 Based on descriptions in mint documents, most of the expended cartridges were 50 caliber. The army made sure no live cartridges were included. 292 NARA-CP, RG104, entry 328-H, box 3 "Philadelphia Mint operating records." Letter date 2/29/44 from Helen C Moore, Acting Superintendent, Philadelphia Mint to Director Ross. NARA-CP is National Archives and Records Administration College Park MD RG104 is Record Group 104. That is the record group for records dealing with the US Mint.[/QUOTE] NOTE that 3500 pounds per day equals about 150,000,000 cents. But the mintage for each year at just Philly was 1,000,000,000 to 1,400,000,000.
NOTE that 3500 pounds per day equals about 150,000,000 cents. But the mintage for each year at just Philly was 1,000,000,000 to 1,400,000,000.[/QUOTE] I thought so. Both of my great uncles served and both told me the same story. They were two of the soldiers doing the sorting before the casings were sent to the Mint. They said they would have rather peeled potatoes. Some of the guys were seriously hurt while sorting when a stray live shell was mixed in and blew up.