1943 Steel Pennies

If you have a silver colored penny, it is not really made of silver, but rather from steel. You may have heard them referred to as silver pennies, but that comes from their color rather than from the metal they were made from. The 1943 steel pennies are the only regular-issue United States coin made that can be picked up with a magnet and the only coin made that doesn't contain any copper. There's a good reason for that.

In 1943, the copper used to make the wheat penny was needed for the Allied war effort to help manufacture ammunition and other military equipment during World War II. So, in the year 1943, pennies were made from steel rather than from copper. These are often referred to as 1943 steel pennies, wartime steel cents, the 1943 United States penny, the 1943 silver wheatback penny, the 1943 steel wheat penny, or "silver" (referring to their color) pennies, just to name a few.

The wartime 1943 steel pennies were officially released only in 1943 because they discovered steel didn't work out very well. The steel pennies were often confused for dimes, they were rejected by magnets in vending machines that were designed to reject steel slugs, and because the galvanization process didn't coat the edges of the steel penny, body oil and sweat would quickly rust the coin. Because of these issues with the 1943 steel pennies, they resorted back to using copper in 1944 by figuring out how to extract copper from spent brass shell casings from the war.

1943 steel pennies were made of 100% steel plated with zinc. They are 19mm in diameter, weigh 2.7 grams, and have a plain edge.

Many people think the 1943 steel penny is rare, but they aren't, really. All three mints made the steel penny in 1943. Philadelphia produced 684,628,670 of them, Denver produced 217,660,000 of them, and San Francisco made 191,550,000 of them. They aren't often found in circulation any longer, but it is likely there are many rolls of them around. The occasional steel cent can many times still be found in the reject area of coin counting machines. Condition can be an issue with the 1943 steel penny, as their composition made them rust easily.

How much are the 1943 steel pennies worth? The standard 1943 steel pennies are worth 12-20 cents or so for circulated coins and 50 cents to a few dollars for uncirculated coins, depending on condition.

The big money in 1943 steel pennies is in the error coins. Two error coins most often associated with steel pennies are the 1943 copper penny and the 1944 steel penny. Because of their collector values, these pennies have been counterfeited often. If you have an authentic 1943 copper penny or an authentic 1944 steel penny, you can reasonably expect them to be valued at over 6 figures. Not a bad return on a one cent investment!

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