1943 Lincoln Cents 1909-1958 MS65

History

Copper demand for ammunition and other war materiel pushed the Mint away from the 95 percent copper bronze alloy used for the cent, and for 1943 the denomination was struck on low-grade steel planchets coated with zinc. Congress prompted the search for a temporary substitute, and the Mint tested various metals and even plastic before settling on the zinc-plated steel that gave the coins a pale, silvery look and the nickname "silver penny." Victor David Brenner's design, in use since 1909, carried over unchanged. The doubled die obverse is a die-production artifact rather than a deliberate issue; John A. Wexler reported it, and it is catalogued as 1943 DDO-001 in his die variety reference with a cross-reference to FS-101.

Details

Brenner designed both the obverse and the reverse. The planchets are zinc-coated steel, with examples weighing 2.70 grams. The variety occurs on Philadelphia coinage, which carries no mint mark, and the Philadelphia Mint struck 684,628,670 cents in 1943. No separate mintage exists for the doubled die, and the number of coins produced from the affected obverse die has not been reported.

Features

The obverse carries Lincoln facing right with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and the date, paired with the wheat ears reverse framing ONE CENT. The doubling is classified as Class VI, the distended die type, and shows as extreme extra thickness on LIBERTY, the date, and WE TRUST rather than a separated second image. That distinction matters in both directions: a collector looking for a 1955-style split image will pass over a genuine piece, while worn or greasy dies and the hard steel planchets can thicken ordinary letters enough to suggest doubling that is not there. The steel core makes every genuine 1943 cent magnetic.

Notable facts

• The Denver Mint struck 217,660,000 steel cents in 1943 and the San Francisco Mint struck 191,550,000, bringing the year's total to nearly 1.1 billion.
• PCGS assigns certification number 37818 to the 1943 Philadelphia doubled die obverse, FS-101.
• PCGS has renamed its listing for the 1943-S doubled die obverse as 1943/2-S after numismatists determined in 2022 that a 1942 date lies beneath the 1943, making it the only known Lincoln cent overdate.
• Because the S-mint variety is the dramatic one, auction comparisons labeled simply "1943 FS-101" often describe a different coin than the Philadelphia issue.
• PCGS notes that the common belief that 1943 steel cents are rare and valuable is a misnomer, as the date remains inexpensive in all but the highest uncirculated grades.