Steel Cent POLL

[BuckleBoy]

I just realized that I've never found a 1943 steel cent!! I know they were only made for a year, but this omission seems odd with regards to the vast number of late-year wheats I've found to date. Has anyone found one? What did it ID as and which model of machine were you using? Do you have a photo of a dug one?

Thanks,

Buckleboy

 

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[1320]

"The novel appearance of this coin resulted in many being saved as curiosities"...Redbook 2006

Apparently, the excitement of a new design, first year coin was more than the folks of the 40's could bear! A strong interest in coin collecting existed even back then. Probably not too many of them ever found their way into the dirt. I have yet to find one.

Jamie

 

[BuckleBoy]

I really wonder if its because of where they read on the meter. Even though they were saved, there had to be some lost. I'm really curious to see how they've held up underground.

 

[stoney56]

Somewhere in my stash, I have one that I found. It was in with a couple of wheaties and a merc. spill so I can't say what it read. It was nothing but a rusty disc so I assume that's what it was. I'll see if I can get a pic later.

 

[bakergeol]

I found lots of them but most were found with the old BFOs which made you dig everything back in the 60's and 70's. Probably not too many found today as you would have to dig small rusty steel targets and they do rust away. Folks have posted some remains of steel cents from time to time and they did not hold up well. I found one at a gravel pit about 15 years as I was looking for gold and digging everything. Kind of strange as only the rim was preserved- I thought that it would be the reverse.


George

 

[Mirage]

My son found one this year. Just a rusty disc. We assume it was a steel cent from the diameter and the fact it was found with hundreds of other wheat pennies.

 

[Leon]

I had to vote, "NO" I have never found one myself. My cousin "DaveDigs" did find one last summer, but I can't recall what it looked like, or if I even took a look at it.. If nobody post a picture of one for you to see I'll see if I can't get him to locate it and get a picture posted for you... You've got me curious about it now too...
Good luck, & Happy hunting~

 

[halfdime]

I haven't found any, though I suspect I probably have left a few in the ground. Since they were zinc coated steel, and we all know what modern zinc pennies do, I can't imagine them prospering underground. With over a billion made, they're out there.

 

[stoney56]

Somewhere in my stash, I have one that I found. It was in with a couple of wheaties and a merc. spill so I can't say what it read. It was nothing but a rusty disc so I assume that's what it was. I'll see if I can get a pic later.

Here's what I found in that hole a while back. It's identical in size to a penny but is nothing be rust and is also flaking apart in places.

 

[jeff of pa]

2 over the years.

Only because they were dropped with & found with another coin
in the same hole.

Rusted Steel that size shouldn't give a signal on its own
unless your in all metal & digging every signal no matter how
obvious it's tiny trash.

 

[Mike95inNJ]

I must say I never dug one myself. I've gotten a couple in change over the years. I have around 20 or 25 of em, just not dug. Here's the best and worse. The bad one looks like it may have been in the ground at sometime.
HH, Mike in NJ

 

[Night Stalker]

I think they would deteriorate within 20-30 years, zinc and steel don't fair well with the elements.

I voted...................no

 

[jeff of pa]

here is the one I still can find.

 

[renegade_7]

Found a few back in the mid 70s with a coinmaster V, non discriminate detector.

 

[treasurejack]

I've found about a dozen of them. Here's a pic of a few of them. I don't use any I.D. system because I don't trust them. Instead I listen to the tones, use a few tricks like bouncing the coil rapidly over the center of target to see if & how the signal changes. I also hunt in the all metal mode, "always!"

 

[BuckleBoy]

You DUG those up?!

 

[treasurejack]

Mint Volumes:
1943 = 684,628,670
1943S = 191,550,000
1943D = 217,660,000

Yep, and according to the book I have there was over 1 billion 1943 steel cents minted so I suspect there's still a lot of them out there. But like I said, I almost always hunt in the all metal modes with little or no discrimination.

 

[ddawgnd]

I thought i might of had one of these at some time. Are they worth anythign special or just a cool thing to have?

 

[treasurejack]

As far as I can tell they're just another penny. Figures! lol

 

[debistogs]

I found a cache of 15 or so of them in an old house....but wasn't metal detecting at the time. There was also about a quart of wheaties there too.