One for wipefeetnmat- "Don Lutes Jr. kept the 1943 copper penny he stumbled upon in his high school cafeteria seven decades ago in a safe behind a wall in his Massachusetts home. All US pennies were supposed to be made of zinc-coated steel that year to conserve the copper needed for wartime essentials like shell casings and telephone wire, according to Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based auction house. But a small number of copper pennies were created by mistake. Only a few of them exist today, making them special to coin collectors. Lutes knew his coin was rare and held on to it. But as his health declined last year, Lutes decided to sell the coin because," he wanted to make sure it went to a good home," said Peter Karpenski, a friend and fellow coin collector. Lutes' prized possession fetched a pretty penny -- $204,000 -- after a live auction Thursday at the Florida United Numismatics convention in Orlando, Florida. Heritage Auctions, which oversaw the sale, estimated the coin was worth at least $170,000. The top bid after a two-week online auction had been $130,000, according to Heritage Auctions." http://edition.cnn.com/style/articl...7n0wSTb4bpM7xEmp9eXYaYc-I4htzHVGu6D3qquIfrkvA
I have a penny collection from the 50s and early 60s. It goes back to 1909. I have never seen a 1943 penny that was other than steel. Now, I get excited if I see a wheat penny.
I have one of the 1943 steel pennies. Have a small magnet stuck to it so I can find it real quick if it ever becomes valuable.
Yup, the 1943 copper cent was one that I tried to find when I was collecting coins as a kid. I didn't buy collectible cents, I just looked for them (a lot). Maybe a half-dozen small business owners along our main street would let me come in and go through their cash drawers. I remember our barber, a decorated veteran of the 45th ID by the way, would even save cents for me that he thought might be of interest. One day when I was going through his cash drawer looking a coins, a customer asked him if he was worried letting me do it. Nope, he said, not a bit, I trust him more with my money than I would any of you guys. Made me feel about 10 feet tall. (I was maybe 12 years old at the time.) The tellers at the local bank hated it when I came in and exchanged my hard earned allowance for rolls of cents, nickles, or dimes. The chief teller worried I was returning the rolls shy a coin or two, and cut me off. The next Sunday I asked my Sunday School teacher if he could do something about it. No problem he said, I know you are an honest boy and I trust you. I'll take care of it. And that was that....... next time I went to the bank for rolls of coins, there was no problem and the tellers were very nice. Oh, he owned the bank too. I grew up around some very nice people and still consider myself very fortunate for it.
I did much the same. I don't think I ever paid for a coin. I would cash silver (which I didn't collect) for pennies, then go through them. I still have my penny collection, though it is far from complete.
The steel pennies are pretty well known. The silver nickels less so. A lot got melted down when silver spike back in the 70's.