Circulated 1943 Steel Cent Rolls

These 50 coin rolls come in a plastic coin tube and though the majority are Philadelphia issues each roll can contain coins from all three mints. All will be rust free or will have negligible amounts.

1943 Steel Cents are one of the most interesting pieces of United States numismatics. Struck for one year when all available quantities of copper were being used to make shell casings for the war effort, the mint used this interesting alternative - zinc coated steel. This quick fix was and is not without controversy: The coins literally rust! also, they were often confused with dimes, in fact to this day many people believe they are made of silver. Adding to the lore of these coins was a news story that was supposed to report the sale of a very rare copper 1943 cent. Somehow the facts were reversed and the news report stated that 1943 steel cents were rare! The fact that national news programs picked up the story only compounded the confusion. For days and weeks after the story ran coin dealers (including us) were inundated with people who wanted to sell there grandfathers very rare 1943 Steel Pennies. Not believing that the coins were worth a fraction of a dollar many called or visited every coin dealer they could before giving up hope that they were going to be the proud owner of a new Mercedes!