The 1943 steel penny, and why yours is probably not rare
A billion were struck, so a steel cent is worth about a dollar. The 1943 penny worth six figures is the one made of copper by mistake, and a magnet settles it in a second.
In the Buck index
1943 Steel CentUnited States · 1943–1944 · Zinc plated steel$0.22 to $1.04
Lincoln CentUnited States · 1909–1958 · Bronze$0.21 to $1.88
In 1943 copper went to the war effort and the US Mint struck cents in zinc-coated steel instead. They came out silver-grey, they rusted, shopkeepers hated them, and the Mint went back to copper the following year.
Just over a billion were made. That is the number to hold on to, because it means a 1943 steel cent is a common coin. Buck prices them at about $0.22 to $1.04 circulated. A bright, unworn one with its zinc coating intact is worth a few dollars.
The one that is worth a house
A small number of copper blanks from 1942 were left in the presses when production switched, and got struck with 1943 dies. Fewer than forty are known across all three mints. They sell for six figures, and the 1943-D is a single known example.
A magnet answers this in one second. Steel sticks. Copper does not. If your 1943 cent jumps to a fridge magnet, it is one of the billion.
If it does not stick, do not celebrate yet: the common fake is a 1943 steel cent copper-plated, which also fails to stick. Weight is the second test. A genuine copper cent weighs 3.11 g; a plated steel one weighs about 2.7 g. A kitchen scale that reads to a tenth of a gram is enough to tell them apart, and it costs less than the postage to send the coin anywhere.
The third fake is a 1948 cent with the 8 reshaped into a 3. Look at the digit under magnification: the loop of an altered 8 leaves a scar.
The mirror image: the 1944 steel cent
The same mistake happened in reverse. A few steel blanks left over from 1943 were struck with 1944 dates. These are also rare and also worth a great deal, and they are also easy to test: a 1944 cent that sticks to a magnet is worth looking into. Around thirty are known.
Why steel cents look terrible
Zinc plating protects steel until it is scratched, and every coin in circulation gets scratched. Most surviving 1943 cents are grey, spotted and rusty at the rim. Cleaning them is a well-known way to destroy the little value they have: the plating comes off with the dirt and what is left is bare rusting steel.
Reprocessed steel cents, replated after the fact to look bright, exist in large numbers and are worth less than untouched originals. A suspiciously perfect 1943 cent with a slightly too-shiny surface is usually one of those.
The short version
Magnet sticks, 1943, common: about a dollar. Magnet does not stick and it weighs 3.11 g: stop handling it and get it authenticated.
