1943 Wheat Penny Lincoln Wheat Cent Circulated G-4 or Better

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We are pleased to offer for sale this 1943 Wheat Penny Lincoln Steel Cent.  This 1943 Steel Wheat Penny is circulated and will grade G-4 or better.  All of our circulated coins have no major marks or visible problems (just honest wear.)  This means that the 1943 Steel Wheat Penny will make a great addition to any circulated Wheat Penny collection, and is a great value.

The 1943 Steel Wheat Penny is a unique coin comprised of pure steel with a thin coating of zinc, instead of the standard penny composition of bronze.  This resulted in a coin with the same 19.05mm diameter as a standard bronze Lincoln Wheat Cent, but a reduced mass of 2.7 grams.  Due to the need for copper for use in ammunition and other military equipment in World War II, the U.S. Mint researched various ways to meet conservation goals on copper usage.  After trying several other substitutes, including various other metals as well as plastics, the zinc coated steel composition was chosen.  However, these 1943 Steel Wheat Pennies had several issues that led to their discontinuation after a single year.  The coins were frequently mistaken for dimes, they had issues with vending machines, and because of galvinization process did not cover the edges of the coins, sweat would quickly rust the metal.  Due to this, the Mint developed a process that combined salvaged brass shell casings with pure copper to produce an alloy that was nearly identical to the pre-1943 bronze composition.

The U.S. Mint collected and destroyed huge numbers of the steel cents throughout the 1950s and 60s, making this 1943 Wheat Penny Lincoln Steel Cent a very rare coin, and an essential part of any Wheat Penny collection!