by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

One of only two known 1944-San Francisco Steel Cents was auctioned on July 31 in Heritage’s Platinum Night event at the ANA Convention in Baltimore. The 1944-S realized $373,750, which is, by far, a record price for a Lincoln Cent, and for any kind of small cent. Laura Sperber, of Legend Numismatics, was the successful bidder.

Of all the 1943 copper and 1944 steel cents, this 1944-S is the only gem quality piece known. Although I have never seen the unique 1943-D copper cent, my guess is that this 1944-S Steel Cent is a more attractive coin. This 1944-S is NGC graded MS-66, and there is probably near-unanimous agreement among experts that it grades at least MS-65. Indeed, it is well struck, coolly brilliant, and very attractive overall. Further, the rich texture of the surfaces is enticing. It grabs the viewer’s attention. It was exciting to examine it.

Rich Uhrich remarks that “it is a terrific coin.” He declares that he “did not see any problems at all. It is, by far, the nicest of all the 1943 copper and 1944 steel cents” from any Mint. “Laura Sperber got a good buy.” Uhrich has been a collector since he was four years old and he has been a full-time dealer since Jan. 2006, when he opted for an early-retirement package from his executive position at a “Fortune 500” firm.

This 1944-S is widely believed to be one of just two 1944-S steel cents. I have never seen the other one. In Jan. 1983, it was auctioned by Bowers & Ruddy. It is said to have some technical problems.

The 1944 Philadelphia steel cent in the July 31st Platinum Night event at the ANA Convention has some imperfections that bothered me. I like the NGC graded AU-53 1944 steel cent that realized $29,900 in Heritage’s Platinum Night at the FUN Convention, on January 10, 2008. It has nice, honest wear, and minimal contact marks.

The Jan. 10, 2008 Platinum Night event, in Orlando, also featured a 1944-Denver steel cent. It is NGC graded “MS-62.” I was not thrilled by it. It realized a surprising $92,000. In April 2008, Heritage auctioned another 1944-D for $28,750. I doubt that either the PCGS or the NGC would assign it a numerical grade. The online images suggest that it has more than a dozen substantial rim nicks and that the color changes on the surfaces may be problematic. In the description of this piece, the cataloguer does note that steel cents in general are “susceptible to corrosion.” The propensity of steel cents to deteriorate over time is discussed by Walter Breen in his “Complete Encyclopedia,” which was published in 1988. (more…)

by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

From July 30 to Aug. 3, thousands of coin collectors flocked to Baltimore to attend the annual Summer ANA Convention. Among the most newsworthy of events at the Convention were the sales of two San Francisco Mint pennies. On July 30, a 1943-S copper cent sold on the bourse floor and, on July 31, a 1944-S steel cent sold at auction. The topic here is the copper cents of 1943, with emphasis upon this specific 1943-S copper cent. In part 2, steel cents of 1944 will be discussed, with the focus being upon the 1944-S that set an astounding record, along with additional reasons as to why 1943 coppers and 1944 steel cents are interesting and important.

Why are certain 1943 and 1944 pennies valuable? More than one billion Lincoln Cents were minted in 1943 and more than two billion in 1944!

From 1864 to 1942, and from 1944 to early 1982, U.S. one cent coins were typically 95% copper. Usually, the other 5% was a mixture of tin and zinc. For simplicity, it makes sense to refer to a coin that is 95% or more copper as being ‘copper’! From 1982 to the present, Lincoln Cents have been made of copper-plated zinc. Though the overall percentage of copper is very small, the copper plating of post-1982 cents causes them to appear to most people as if they consisted primarily of copper. So, people are accustomed to thinking of cents as being copper.

In 1943 only, in order to devote more copper for purposes relating to World War II, U.S. cents were made of zinc coated steel. In 1944, copper was employed again, and steel cents were not supposed to be minted.

Steel cents of 1943 have sort of a silvery-white look. It is readily apparent that these are not composed of copper. For unknown reasons, however, a few 1943 cents were minted in copper, and are extremely rare. It is generally believed that a few leftover copper planchets (prepared blanks) were stuck, for a while, in the mechanism that channeled the planchets to the coinage presses. As these copper planchets became unstuck eventually, due to the movements within the mechanisms, and joined the flow, they were struck into coins. Conversely, in 1944, a few steel cents were minted as a consequence of leftover steel planchets joining the flow of copper planchets.

So, 1943 copper cents and 1944 steel cents are off-metal strikings. These are the most famous of all mint errors. Moreover, as there are no extremely rare dates in the Lincoln Cent series, wealthy collectors often collect certain errors ‘as if’ these were regular issues and include them in sets of Lincoln Cents. (more…)

In the earliest years of the Mint, dime and quarter eagle reverse dies were used on each denomination–apparently a conscious decision. The planchet sizes were close, 19 mm for the dimes and 20 mm for the quarter eagles.

The diameter of each denomination was later reduced when new machinery was introduced. The dime’s diameter was reduced to 18.5 mm beginning in 1809, and the quarter eagle to 18.2 mm in 1829.

It is not a stretch to imagine the Mint striking a batch of dimes with a few unstruck planchets remaining in the hopper, then striking a run of quarter eagles, a couple of which were struck on leftover dime planchets. Only 0.3 mm separated the size of the two planchets, an imperceptible difference to the casual inspector.

What happened next is fairly obvious: nothing. This piece entered the channels of commerce and circulated as a dime for many years. Only recently and after 54 points of wear did someone notice that the design was inconsistent with that of an 1831 dime. This piece was found in a bag of silver in North Texas, in May of this year.

It is always interesting to scan the “Found in Rolls” column in Coin World. Foreign coins, tokens, silver coins are constantly found in rolls. But an 1831 quarter eagle struck on a dime planchet in a bag of silver?

This is the second example of this off-metal striking that is known. The other piece is high-grade and has a distinguished pedigree including Brand, Opezzo, Farouk, Judd, and Sloss. It has been off the market since 1974, when it was traded privately, then it was withdrawn from the 1979 ANA Sale. Over the years that piece has been listed and delisted as a possible pattern. (more…)