Expert: PAPAJACK - 12/25/2008

Question
I have a wheat penny in my safety deposit box that has copper and steel on it. It is either 1942 1943 or 1944 or 1945 I believe. Is this a rare strike coin?

Answer
Hello Cliff,                  

I really have to get more information on your piece to help. None of these USA One Cent coins are rare if they are not an error.

I need the date on the coin and Mint Mark Letter below the date? And what color the coin is? Steel or Copper?

There were reported some 1942 cents that may have been made in steel, and some known 1944 cents that were steel with zinc. And of course some well documented 1943 Lincoln Cents that were made in copper.

The coin that is RARE is the COPPER 1943 Cent. Not the Steel 1943 Cent.

The 1943 copper cent is one of the most sought after items for coin collectors, as all circulating cents at that time were struck in zinc-coated steel because all the copper was needed for the war effort.

Supposedly 12 pieces were to have been mistakenly struck by the different Mints by mistake when some copper-alloy 1-cent blanks remained in the bins or hopper when production began on the new steel pennies.

A 1943 copper cent was sold in 1958, bringing more than $40,000. A subsequent piece sold for $10,000 in 1981. The highest amount paid for a 1943 copper cent was over $112,000 in 1999.

Because of its collector value, the 1943 copper cent has been counterfeited by coating steel cents with copper or by altering the dates of 1945, '48 and '49 pennies.

Is yours is silver in color? All three Mints made the Zinc Coated Steel one cent coins.
Philadelphia produced 684,628,670 of them.
Denver Mint produced 217,660,000 of them.
San Francisco produced 191,550,000 of them.

The value of the 1943 zinc/steel One cent ranges from .20 cents for lower grade specimens to about $3.00 in brilliant Uncirculated condition to collectors.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack