The 1943 Steel Penny was obviously made out of steel. This is the case due to a shortage of copper from its heavier use in World War II. There were also other coins that had their compositions changed due to the war effort. This coin was composed of 99% steel and coated with a thin layer of zinc. This composition replaced the copper-based bronze that the Wheat Penny formally had. The 1943 Steel Cent was minted from the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints, and it was minted in 1943 and a small amount in 1944.

The 1943 Steel Penny’s design consisted of the same design used for the Wheat Penny since 1909. The design is a right-facing head of President Abraham Lincoln and arching over the top of the coin is the phrase “In God We Trust." On the left of the head states “Liberty” and on the right was the mintage year. The reverse of the Steel Penny depicts the face value of the coin in words and it also states “United States of America,” which is surrounded by two heads of wheat. Since it had the same design as the Lincoln Cent it also had the same designer, Victor D. Brenner.

As stated previously, the 1943 Steel Penny was made of steel because of the heavier use of copper for the war effort. Using this material did not come without consequences. Since the coin was made of steel, it was susceptible to being destroyed by heavy amounts of rust. This caused the number of steel pennies that still remain intact much different from the original number of coins minted. Fortunately, the mintage of this coin was quite high, with a number of 684,628,670 coins minted. With a mintage so high, there are still a good amount of steel pennies that still exist. Most of these coins are in circulated condition, but there are still a decent amount of uncirculated coins for collectors to claim. However, finding uncirculated examples without some rust or spots on it is a feat within itself.

Many collectors are curios about the 1943 Steel Penny value. A roll of steel pennies can cost less than $20 in circulated condition. This makes this a common option among collectors who want to own some of these interesting pieces. Purchasing a roll also gives the collector the opportunity to sort through the coins and find ones of different qualities and from different Mints. As you can probably imagine, examples graded higher than MS-60 will cost more, but even an MS65 example can cost less than $30. Even though the steel versions of this coin are unique, the true rarity is the 1943 Copper Penny, as very few were ever minted.