Alot of posting here latley, just learning! Does anyobdy know the story behind this? Was this a proof set or something back in 43? I think these pennys might be unc but its really hard to tell because they are either really dirty or really corroded. Just wondering if somebody could tell me the story behind these and if they are worth anything more then 3 cents
War time emergency, copper was needed for the war effort, more than steel. Not worth much and makes a decent washer. An interesting curio of WW2.
Worth about 0.30 each Steelies had an extremely high mintage. The Mint considered using the composition permanently until they found that the Zinc layer quickly wore off exposing the steel underneath causing rapid rusting. Cool coin though I wish they were worth more, but they are not I have a roll of them anyways and 1 uncirculated. +What ripley said
Well, as you should know, 1943 was the mid-point of the war. Copper was in short supply, and so the Mint decided to change the composition, preserving the copper for the war effort. The coins were minted with steel, with an ultra thin zinc coating (to protect the coin). However, the zinc layering was so thin, that it wore off, leaving the steel to corrode. So, most '43 pennies are in poor condition, and the ones with the remaining zinc layer are in better condition and more valuable. Even more interesting, the 1944 and 1945 cents, after public outcry, were made of spent shell casings. They had a very similar brass alloy, and were nearly identical in composition, so If you want a challenge, try to get all of those. Now, these coins are worth about 20-30 cents, cause they are really corroded *EDIT*- I'm late
On a side note jcakcoin some people had also re-coated these coins with zinc. THe best way to tell is if it has a blue like hue
Never knew that I almost bought one like that on Ebay a few months ago, but luckily, I thought the price was a little bit too good to be true.
