NNP Encyclopedia data is provided in cooperation with Whitman Brands, based on catalog data organized by the Greysheet Identification System (GSID).
Entry Details
Coin Date: Lincoln Cent Denomination (Short): 1c Denomination (Long): Cent Variety: Wheat Reverse, Steel Variety 2: 1943 Desg: MS Composition: Zinc coated Steel Strike Type: Business Coinage Type: Lincoln, Wheat reverse (Steel) Coinage Years: 1943 Mint Location: Various Diameter: 19 Weight (Grams): 2.7 Designer: Victor D. Brenner Edge: Plain Obverse Description: Bust of Abraham Lincoln framed by IN GOD WE TRUST on the top periphery. The word LIBERTY to the left of the portrait and the date and mintmark (If any) positioned on the right side. Reverse Description: Wheat ears flanking the words ONE CENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on the top perimeter. General Notes:
When the United States formally entered World War II, the nation began rationing key materials to help the military effort. To save copper for ammunition, the United States approved minting Lincoln cents from a zinc-plated steel composition. This new format was first used in 1943, with steel cents replacing the traditional bronze composition that had been used through 1942.
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Steel cents are popular coins both from the standpoint of collecting and also in terms of their marketability to non-collectors, many of whom have never seen steel cents before and find them novel. Dealers, particularly the major distributors, often sell 1943 steel cents to non-collectors as a type of gateway coin to hook non-numismatists into collecting. More than 1 billion 1943 steel cents were made across all three mints that produced them, and the Philadelphia-minted specimens are common in grades through MS67. In MS68 they're extremely scarce.
