1943 Bronze Penny Could Be Worth $1.7 Million

A decades-old penny could be worth more than $1.5 million dollars to a collector.

In 1909, the Lincoln penny entered circulation, according to American Web Media. It has been redesigned several times since then, and before 1982 the U.S. Mint used 95 percent copper to create pennies — except for one year during World War II.

In 1943, copper was needed for the war in ammunition casings, so pennies were made from zinc-plated steel, or in rare cases, zinc-plated bronze. The steel pennies were removed from circulation after the war, making them collectors’ items. But it’s the bronze-minted pennies that could be worth more than $1.5 million because they were made in error.

One such bronze penny, made at the Denver Mint in 1943, sold for $1.7 million to a business executive who chose to remain anonymous, according to Professional Coin Grading Service. The coin’s existence was not known until 1979, and the owner did not initially wish to sell the rare coin.

“The 1943-D bronze cent is the most valuable cent in the world, and it took four years of aggressive negotiations with the coin’s owner until he agreed to sell it,” Laura Sperber, president of Legend Numismatics, said.

Don Willis, president of PCGS, estimates that there were fewer than 20 Lincoln bronze cents made at the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints in 1943. The penny the businessman purchased is the only known example from the Denver Mint.

“The new owner [has] been collecting since he was a teenager, searching through pocket change looking for rare coins. As a youngster he thought he’d actually found a 1943 copper cent in circulation but it was not authentic. He still has that in his desk drawer, but now he’s the only person to ever assemble a complete set of genuine 1943 bronze cents, one each from the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints,” Sperber said.

The proceeds from the penny’s sale went to a charitable organization, according to the coin owner’s agent, Andy Skrabalak of Angel Dee’s Coins and Collectibles in Woodbridge, Virginia.

“As a specialist in small cents, this transaction is the ultimate accomplishment for me and I’m privileged to be part of it. I don’t think it will ever be duplicated in my lifetime,” Skrabalak said.

The only way to know if you have found one of the rare bronze pennies is to first check the date — it must be 1943 — and then have it appraised and the chemical makeup analyzed, according to American Web Media.

Sources: American Web Media, PCGS / Photo credit: PCGS