1943 Steel Cent - 1943 Copper Cent

1943 Copper Cent

Right behind the 1955 doubled-die cent, the 1943 copper cent is one of the notable rarities of the Lincoln cent series. An estimated 40 examples are believed to have been struck, with 12 confirmed to exist. The error occurred when copper planchets were left in the press hopper and press machines during the changeover from copper to steel blanks. Examples were discovered after the War, with the first two in 1947, and another in 1958. An example was first sold in 1958 for $40,000; one mint condition specimen sold for over $200,000 in 2004. Many people have counterfeited the coin by either copper-plating normal 1943 cents (sometimes as novelties with no intent to defraud), or altering cents from the period, usually 1945-, 1948-, or 1949-dated coins.

The copper cents differ from their steel counterparts in four ways:

• Genuine 1943 copper cents will not be attracted to a magnet. Copper-plated steel cents will exhibit a strong magnetic attraction.
• Copper cents weigh 3.11 grams. Steel cents weigh just 2.7 grams.
• The numeral 3 in 1943 has the same long tail as the steel cents. Alterations from later-dated copper cents will be noticeable when compared side-by-side with genuine steel cents.
• The quality of the strike is exceptionally sharp, especially around the rim, because the soft copper planchets were struck with the same (higher) pressure used for the steel cents.

In a similar error, a few 1944 cents were struck on steel planchets left over from 1943. There are two explanations given for why this happened. One explanation is that steel planchets were left in the press hopper and press machines from the previous year mixed in with copper planchets. Another explanation credits the error to the production of 25 million Belgian two franc pieces by the Philadelphia mint after that country's liberation from the Nazis. These coins were of the same composition and the same planchets as the 1943 cents, but they differed slightly in weight. In all, 1944 steel cents are fewer in number than their 1943 copper counterparts, and are even more valuable; one such example minted in San Francisco sold for $373,750 in an August 2008 auction held by Heritage Auctions; this was the highest auction price ever for a Lincoln cent until September 23, 2010.