1943 Steel Wheat Penny

Notes: This coin is sometimes called a Silver Penny by those who aren't sure exactly what it is. While these coins may look like silver, the 1943 cent is actually 99% steel with a 1% zinc coating to make it look silverish. In the year 1943 the United States issued the steel penny because the copper was needed for World War II. The steel or silver look is actually the result of the mint using a Zinc coating. The composition of this coin is 99% steel with a thin layer of zinc. See photo above for actual example. The 1943 Steel Wheat Penny is much akin to the 1943 War Nickel in that both coins were issued with alternate metal compositions in order to save metal for the war.

1943 Steel Wheat Cent Errors

Double Die

Double die strike errors are known to exist in the year 1943 for the steel wheat cent. Look closely at the lettering and or dates to find traces of this error.

Off Center Strike

When the die strikes the planchet off center it creates an off center strike. These can be off anywhere from 5-90% in any direction. Look for a blank crescent shape at the edge of the coin to spot this error. See image above as example.

Struck on Dime Planchet

Silver dime planchets somehow made their way into the hoppers for the 1943 steel pennies and were struck and released to the public by accident.

Struck Through

Example above is a struck through die cap, but in general struck through errors occur when a foreign object makes its way between the die and the planchet and remnants of this object are indented into the coin.

1943 Bronze Wheat Penny

The mother of all coin United States coin errors. The 1943 Bronze / Copper planchet wheat cent is one of the most valuable coin errors ever.

Price Chart

This section is more for experienced collectors only, and rates refer only to professionally graded and slabbed coins. If you are new to collecting the prices below may not make much sense.

Breakdown of pricing per condition for 1943 Steel Wheat Penny as follows.

• Grade MS61 = $2-$3
• Grade MS62 = $5-$8
• Grade MS63 = $8-$13
• Grade MS64 = $15-$25
• Grade MS65 = $26-$44
• Grade MS66 = $41-$69
• Grade MS67 = $338-$563
• Grade MS68 = $3,000-$5,000

Is the list above a little overwhelming? If so, take 5 minutes to learn all about Coin Grading.

It's also important to note...Prices are subject to the same supply and demand laws as everything else. Coins sold at the same auction house 10x, would fetch drastically different bids each session. To raise your chances of receiving top dollar read How to Get the Most for your Coins.

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How much is a 1943 Steel Wheat Penny worth?

This section is more of a layman's guide, for those new to collecting.

In Average Circulated (AC) condition it's worth around 45 cents, one in certified mint state (MS+) condition could bring as much as $10 at auction. This price does not reference any standard coin grading scale. So when we say Average Circulated, we mean in a similar condition to other coins circulated in 1943, and mint state meaning it is certified MS+ by one of the top coin grading companies. *** [?].

If you are a fan of coin roll hunting or just want to learn more about steel wheat pennys then search or scroll below to find the most valuable and rarest in this series.