Off The Record

If There’s One Of These Coins In Your Wallet, You Are Rich

Published on July 15, 2024

Is one in your pocketbook? A Wheat Cent, a rare copper wheat penny from the World War II era, is going for $85,000 at auction.

For a short while in 1943, materials other than copper were used to make wheat pennies.
This resulted from a lack of copper and tin during the US’s involvement in World War II.
Nevertheless, in 1943 a small batch of copper pennies were made in error.
According to CoinTracker, those uncommon coins, which are primarily copper, are currently valued up to $85,782 in certified mint state (MS+) condition.
However, watch out for fakes as there are numerous ways to impersonate this gold mine.

Look under the couch’s back; you might come across a penny valued at over $100,000.

A rare 1943 coin fashioned of copper wheat is selling for about $85,000 at auction, according to the experts at CoinTrackers.

Due to shortages during the war, the pennies were fashioned with superior copper plating instead of steel, which was accidentally minted and released into circulation.

In fact, using a magnet to determine whether you may have a wealth hidden away is the quickest method—copper coins do not stick as well as steel ones do.

It’s also important to remember that thousands of fakes exist due to the high value of these coins.

Unreliable dealers are filing down the 8 on a 1948 copper dime to make a 3.

According to the online coin value database, “Coin analysts suggest that copper plates may have been tested or left mixed among the other steel plates from 1942 and thus the error.”

“No matter what the cause, these coins are selling for just under $100,000 dollars according to our resources.”

During the US’s involvement in World War II, shortages of copper and tin led to a brief period in 1943 when other materials were used to make pennies.

Public objections quickly resulted in the composition’s withdrawal since the zinc-plated steel coins corroded in humid environments.

Wheat pennies were again primarily made of copper as early as 1944, but any that were coined in 1943 would have entered circulation by accident.

Nevertheless, it seems that counterfeiters are trying more inventive ways to profit from this money-grabbing scheme.

Some people could attempt to file down the “8” on 1948 issued coins to make it appear like a “3” since the composition of pennies returned to its pre-World War II state in 1946.

Alternatively, con artists can just copperplate the widely dispersed steel wheat pennies from the same year as the few genuine copper ones were produced.

According to CoinTrackers, the simplest way to be sure you’re not buying a fake or to determine if you’ve found one of the fortunate few gold mines to sell is to use the magnet test.

A steel coin with copper plating will adhere to a magnet better than a solid copper penny.