Distinguishing the elusive 1943 Lincoln copper cent from an imposter requires a magnet and a good eye.
In 1943 the cent was struck on a zinc-coated steel planchet rather than the usual 95 percent copper planchet. The United States was involved in World War II and copper was needed for the war effort.
The 77th Congress authorized the wartime cent with Public Law 815. The metal content of the cent changed from 95 percent copper and 5 percent tin and zinc to a low grade carbon steel base with a .005-inch thick zinc coating that was deposited electrolytically as a rust preventative.
No one knows for sure how, but a few – some speculate about two dozen – copper planchets were mixed in with the zinc-coated steel planchets and were struck with 1943 dies. The authentic 1943 Lincoln copper cents are highly prized.
In the 1940s rumors began about a genuine 1943 Lincoln copper cent struck in error. The first pieces were authenticated by acknowledged experts in the late 1950s.
Most of the authenticated 1943 Lincoln copper cents – approximately 15 – were struck at the Philadelphia Mint. One struck at the Denver Mint has been authenticated and four are known from the San Francisco Mint.
Scott A. Travers lists the 1943 Lincoln copper cent as one of six "fascinating coins" and "most ... highly unlikely to turn up."
"Beware of fakes," warns the Web site www.coinsite.com. "Since the 1943 copper cents are so rare they have been a popular target of counterfeiters and other scam artists."
Attempts to fake the 1943 copper cent include several methods:
? Copper plating a 1943 zinc coated steel cent
? Altering the date of a Lincoln cent of another year to make it look like the last digit is a three; the 1948 cent is a common choice.
? Casting a coin from scratch. These coins are very crude and should be easy to detect.
? Creating dies from a genuine 1943 steel cent and striking a copper cent planchet with them.
A four-prong test can help a collector determine if a 1943 Lincoln "copper" cent is authentic. Look at the color of the coin, get a magnet, weigh the coin and check out the numeral 3 in the date.
If a coin passes all the tests, then have it checked by a coin authentication service.
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This 1943 Lincoln cent appears on the surface to be a bronze cent, possibly worth tens of thousands of dollars. However, it turned out to be a zinc-coated steel cent post-Mint plated with copper. It stuck to a magnet. A genuine copper alloy error cent would not have adhered to the magnet.
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Color
"First of all, look at the color of the coin," advises the Coin World Web site at www.coinworld.com. "Is it red/brown, like copper, or does its color range from gray to black?
The typical 1943 Lincoln zinc-coated steel cent is gray to black in color. It is worth less than $1 in circulated condition.
During the war a record number of these zinc-coated steel cents were struck. From Feb. 27 to Dec. 31, 1943, the three U.S. Mint production facilities struck 1,093,838,670 pieces.
With repeated handling the zinc-coated steel cents turned dark.
A magnet
Steel cents are attracted to a magnet. Copper cents are not attracted to a magnet.
If the color is red or brown like a regular cent, still determine whether a magnet will stick to it. If so, you have a common, low-value zinc-coated steel cent that someone plated with copper. Many people plated these cents many years ago.
Thousands of copper-plated alterations exist.
The number three
The 3 in the date on a genuine 1943 Lincoln cent of any alloy should have a long tail that falls below the digits 194.
Many 1948 Lincoln cents have been altered by individuals cutting away the left half of the 8, leaving the right half to resemble a 3. Altered 1948 Lincoln cents will not have a descending tail on the last numeral. Compare the 3 on the common 1943 Lincoln steel cent to the 3 on a suspected copper example. The shape of the 3 must match exactly on both coins.
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Images courtesy of HeritageAuctions.com The 1943 Lincoln copper cents struck at the Philadelphia Mint are the most common of the known examples.
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Weight
A copper alloy cent should weigh 3.11 grams; a steel cent, 2.689 grams. If the weight does not fall within a small tolerance range of 3.11 grams, the coin might be a struck counterfeit.
Fantastic lore
David W. Lange writes in The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents that "more falsehoods and fantastic lore have surrounded this coin than any other in the Lincoln series."
Around the end of World War II rumors spread nationwide that automobile manufacturer Henry Ford would give a new car to anyone who could furnish him with a "copper" cent dated 1943. The car company was besieged with inquiries.
Also rumor, regarding "copper" cents, according to Lange, were the first published reports of genuine coins from Dr. Conrad Ottelin and a 16-year-old boy named Don Lutes Jr. in 1947. Lutes reportedly received his cent in change from the cafeteria in his Pittsfield, Mass., high school.
The first authentic 1943 Lincoln copper cent to be widely acknowledged was found in change in 1956 by a 14 year-old, Marvin Beyer Jr. of Rivera, Calif.
Marvin found the cent in the family’s jar of cents.
A mystery
No one is certain just how the 1943 Lincoln copper cents came to be, although many have speculated. Leon Worden wrote at www.coinagemag.com that the U.S. Mint "consistently disavowed the existence of genuine 1943 bronze cents."
Worden writes that Charles S. Reis was a teenager working at the San Francisco Mint when he put a "handful of copper penny planchets" into the hopper. Reis, according to Worden, claims he retrieved five or six of the copper cents and brought them home to give to his mother.
Worden quotes Steve Benson, who has investigated every 1943 copper cent. Benson believes the 13 Philadelphia Mint cents were struck deliberately on an unused press.
It is unlikely that definitive proof will ever be uncovered whether some of the 1943 Lincoln copper cents were struck deliberately. The uncertainty can only add to the mystery and collectibility of the coin.
