What is a Silver Penny?
A United States silver penny is steel coated with zinc. Pennies minted during 1943 were nicknamed “wartime cents.”
The United States minted these coins in 1943 during World War II. Shell casings and other war materials required the used of copper, and the metal was in short supply. Instead of diverting copper to make pennies, the government had the mint make pennies from steel and electroplate them with zinc.
The public never accepted the idea of a steel penny. Zinc and silver look enough alike that the 1943 pennies could be confused with a dime. Even though the pennies had zinc coating to prevent rust and corrosion it wore off around the edges and high spots. When the zinc wore off, the steel could rust and corrode.
The mint made high production runs of these coins, so they are not rare. According to the U.S. mint, a few 1943 copper pennies were minted, so these are rare. Some copper blanks left in the minting machines made 40 known examples of 1943 copper pennies. If an unknown example to were to appear, it would be a major event. The way to determine if one of these coins is genuine copper is to use a magnet. If they are attracted to a magnet, they are a steel coin plated with copper.
1943 is the only year the United States minted zinc plated pennies. Occasionally, zinc plated pennies of other years appear. These are often the result of science experiments to demonstrate the electroplating process. These coins have no value other than as a penny.
A silver penny is a type of one cent coin that was minted in the United States in 1943. Silver pennies were not actually made of silver, but rather of steel that had been thinly coated in zinc. For a collector’s item, these coins are relatively common, and are easily found in coin shops, even though it is rare to accidentally find a silver penny still in circulation. The 1943 silver penny was struck in steel instead of the usual copper. This was due to the increased need to dedicate all available copper to the military during World War II. Military forces needed copper for use in ammunition and other wartime applications, and the silver penny was just part of the plan to conserve copper for the war effort. Despite the patriotic motivation for this change, the results included some unforeseen problems. Steel tarnished even more quickly than copper, because of its high iron content. Rust also formed at the edges of the coin, quickly deteriorating them. Perhaps the most vexing problem was
