Did you hear about the person who spent a rare 1943 copper cent?
Interesting if that’s the case, because if it is spent and nobody has spotted it, there’s a coin worth over $100,000 floating around out there somewhere!
While 1943 copper cents are rare, 1943 steel cents are highly common. The 1943 steel cents were made to save copper for the war effort.
Here’s the value of steel vs copper pennies.
Some fun facts about 1943 steel pennies:
- 1943 steel cents do not contain any silver.
- Over a billion 1943 steel cents were made.
- Typical 1943 steel cents are worth between 25 cents and 1 dollar, higher if in uncirculated grades.
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I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century.
I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek.
I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!