Photos and descriptions used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

As World War II got underway, it quickly became obvious that massive quantities of copper and nickel were needed for the war effort. As a major industrial user of both metals at that time, the U.S. Mint began to look for alternative compositions for the cent and nickel coinage. In 1941, the three operating mints coined 1.1 billion cents and 300 million nickels. Eliminating copper from the cent coinage, reducing copper from the nickel coinage, and eliminating nickel from the nickel coinage would result in a savings of more than 4,000 tons of copper and 400 tons of nickel, based on the 1941 coinage.

Several companies were involved in development and testing of experimental compositions as replacement for copper in the cent. Much of the experimentation involved various plastic materials, hard rubber, and even tempered glass. At the same time, the Mint was looking into various metallic alternatives, including this white metal piece and zinc coated steel patterns, the latter currently unknown.

Patterns struck inside the Mint utilized the existing Lincoln cent dies, while the outside companies were provided with special dies feature a female head facing right for the obverse, and UNITED STATES MINT inside a wreath for the reverse.

USPatterns.com provides the following information: “Only a 2 or 3 are known. The earliest known listing for one of these is ex Farouk, Bolender 10/54. Another piece is 95% tin, 5% copper and is ex Stacks 9/96, Heritage 97 ANA, Superior 3/00 and is presently in a PCGS65 holder. A second piece is 93% tin, 7% antimony and was offered in Ira & Larry Goldberg’s Coins & Collectibles 5/2003 sale. One example, to be sold in Heritage 3/08 sale is a proof !!”

The Coin weighs in at only 1.563 grams - about half the weight of the normal 3.11 grams

This coin is to be auctioned by Heritage in the 2008 March Phoenix, AZ (ANA) Signature Auction #1102 Lot 1328