The cent continued to be made of this particular copper and zinc composition until 1982. “That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc,” according to the U.S. That is, until more recently when a 1943 copper-alloy cent, that is the only known example of a cent mistakenly struck on bronze planchets in the Denver Mint, was sold for a record $1.7 million according to the Professional Coin Grading Service.Īfter the composition of the cent was changed back to bronze In 1944, it remained until 1962 when the tin content was removed. The highest amount paid for a 1943 copper cent was $82,500 in 1996.” “A subsequent piece sold for $10,000 at an ANA convention in 1981. “A 1943 copper cent was first offered for sale in 1958, bringing more than $40,000,” according to the U.S. Mint, there are only 40 copper-alloy cents known to remain in existence, which is what makes them so valuable. Mint, coin experts speculate the 1943 bronze coins were struck by accident when copper-alloy 1-cent blanks remained in the press hopper when production began on the new steel pennies at the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints. Photo courtesy of Coins and Currency of WayneĪccording to the U.S. The back of a pure copper one-cent coin, dated 1794, for sale at Coins and Currency of Wayne for $1,500. “It’s rare because it was an off-metal of what it was supposed to be,” Hendrickson said. Something significant happened from the perspective of numismatics when some copper-alloy cents were made that were intended to be steel. “They made steel pennies that year because they needed copper for the war to make bullet casings and such,” Hendrickson says. However, in 1943, for one year only, the coin’s composition was changed to zinc-coated steel. “The cent was again bronze from 1864 to 1962.” From 1857, the cent was 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance,” states the U.S. “From 1937 to 1857 the cent was made of bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc). The Mint offers a brief chronology on the shift in composition over time. Mint, the metal composition of the cent, also known as a penny, was pure copper from 1793 until 1837. “Until Michigan copper ores were discovered in 1846, Vermont was the chief copper producer in the United States.”Īccording to the U.S. “The Orange County copper district ores were discovered in 1793, with production beginning in the early 1830s,” says the Department of Environmental Conservation on their official website for the state of Vermont, referring to Orange County, Vermont. and world coins and currency since 1964, as well as an authorized dealer for the United States Mint, says New England, particularly Vermont, was one of the primary locations where the U.S. Hendrickson, who is a nationally recognized buyer and seller of U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which authorized states to mint their own coins.” “During the Colonial Period, monetary transactions were handled using foreign or colonial currency, livestock, or produce,” according to the U.S. This 1792 legislation was established a little over a month after Congress passed the Coinage Act, establishing the first national mint in the United States in Philadelphia. “They used copper for the smaller denominations because of the smaller value of the metal.” “The coins were worth their weight ,” says Frank Hendrickson, co-owner of Coins and Currency of Wayne, Inc., located in Wayne, Pennsylvania, with his wife Sandy. Photo courtesy of Coins and Currency of Wayneĭespite representing the smallest denomination of currency, copper played an important role in marking the inception of cents produced by the United States’ first national mint. Mint, which has the original legislation on display on their website.Ī pure copper one-cent coin, dated 1794, for sale at Coins and Currency of Wayne for $1,500. “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That the Director of the Mint, with the appropriation of the President of the United States, be authorized to contract for and purchase a quantity of copper, not exceeding one hundred and fifty tons, and that the said Director, as soon as the needful preparations shall be made, cause the copper by him purchased to be coined at the Mint into cents and half cents.”, according to the U.S. One hundred and fifty tons of copper - that specific amount was the focus of one-cent and half-cent coin legislation dated May 8, 1792.
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