1943 and 1944 Steel and Copper Cents

Even in 1941, before the US entered World War II, it was becoming apparent that the cent was going to have to undergo a change.  Copper was being consumed by the defense industry in growing quantities causing shortages for the Mint.  A cent shortage compounded the problem.  Soon ambitious efforts were made to dislodge cents stored in money jars, piggy banks and even coin collections, and return them to circulation as a substitute for new production that would not impede the war effort.

These efforts, however, were inadequate and production of the cent was cut way back in early 1942.  The Mint started experimenting with other alloys and even plastic as a replacement for the mostly copper cent.  The first alloy change occurred in 1942 when tin was eliminated, changing the composition from bronze to brass.  While it is speculated that all three Mints coined cents in both alloys during 1942, the two alloys are not visually distinguishable.

The Mint ultimately settled on low-carbon steel plated with zinc as a substitute to be used starting in 1943. The new steel cent soon proved to be a disaster.  The silver color caused many people to mistake them for dimes, their magnetic qualities caused them to be rejected as slugs by vending machines, and they deteriorated fast.  The steel cores rusted while the zinc plating oxidized in the presence of moisture and air to a whitish, powdery texture.  The zinc plating was too thin to adequately protect the zinc when subjected to the wear and tear of circulation. Moreover, the strip (see photo below) was plated with zinc before the planchets were punched.  Thus, the edges provided a chink in the zinc plating that allowed the cents to corrode relatively quickly. The Mint realized that it could not produce these cents much longer.

Strip used to produce steel cent planchets.

Beginning in 1944, the Mint recycled spent shell casings from the War and used them for cent production.  Pure copper ingots were combined with the 70% copper shell casings to bring the alloy up to the pre-1943 95% copper, 5% zinc combination. Tin, still vital to the war effort, was left out of the alloy altogether for the shellcase cents.  While some Lincoln enthusiasts believe these no-tin cents are paler in color, they are virtually indistinguishable, if at all.  Others have observed that the shellcase cents frequently have streaks which they attribute to the trace presence of explosive impurities lodged in the shellcases by the explosion of the shell.  1946 was a transition year with some cents being made from the shellcase alloy and others using the prewar composition of 95% copper, 4% zinc and 1% tin.

Beginning the following year and continuing through 1967, the Mint withdrew from circulation and melted over a hundred million steel cents.  This withdrawal, along with the reactiveness of the metals used in their production, has made pristine, brilliant uncirculated examples relatively rare.

Transitional Errors

Since the discovery of the first 1943 copper cent was reported in The Numismatist in June 1947, the story of how they came to be has been oft told and retold in numismatic circles.  Somehow prewar copper-alloy planchets got mixed in with the new zinc-plated steel planchets when the Mint switched metals in early 1943.  Or, perhaps more likely, a few of the copper planchets were lodged in tote bins and other coining equipment and remained undiscovered during in the transition process.  As a result, a few 1943 copper cents were inadvertently produced by all three Mints.

Only 21 genuine 1943 copper cents are known to exist.  Of those, 14 were produced in Philadelphia, 1 in Denver and 6 in San Francisco.  Superior Stamp and Coin sold the sole 1943-D copper cent specimen (which grades NGC MS 64 BN) in 1996 at auction for $82,500, including the 10% buyer's fee.  Until it was submitted to NGC prior to the auction, the existence of this coin was unknown to anyone but its owners and Lincoln specialists largely agreed there were no 1943-D copper cents.  Superior also sold one of the S-mint specimens in 1996 for $49,500, including the 10% buyer's fee.  This coin graded AU 58 but was subsequently regraded MS 61.  The most recent public sale of a 1943-S copper cent occurred in December 2001 when Bowers and Merena auctioned a VF 35 example for $62,100.

Similarly, in 1944 when the Mints switched back to the copper alloy, a few of the steel planchets prepared for 1943-dated cents remained in the system and were inadvertently struck with the 1944 date.  Again, remarkably, all three Mints produced errors of this type as at least one has been discovered and authenticated from each Mint.  There is second possible explanation for the existence of some or all of the P-mint examples of the 1944 steel cent.  In 1944, the Philadelphia Mint used the numerous leftover steel planchets to produce 25 million two-franc coins for recently liberated Belgium.  Given the poor quality control that characterized the wartime Philadelphia Mint, it is likely that some of these planchets found their way into a tote filled with cent planchets.

Richard Fenton discovered the first 1944 steel cent in circulation in 1945.  Another example was reported in 1959 by W. H. Smith of Fayetteville, Ohio.  In his 1996 book The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents, David W. Lange gives an estimate of the number of 1944 steel cents confirmed as genuine: 27 P-mint examples; seven (perhaps as high as 10) D-mint examples; and a single S-mint coin.  None of the remaining 1944 steel cents grade below the VF level, although some of the coins are corroded to one degree or another.

Here at Wayne Herndon Rare Coins, we've had the privilege of buying and selling two of the 1944 steel cents, one a P-mint and the other a D-mint.  Below are pictures of one of these coins, a 1944 Steel Cent Graded AU 55 by PCGS: