If the penny sticks to the magnet, your stuck with a worthless coin. The easiest way to determine if a 1943 cent is made of steel, and not copper, is to use a magnet. The 1943 copper cent is a favorite of counterfeiters, who coat steel pennies with copper. Coin experts speculate that the planchets were struck by accident when copper-alloy 1-cent blanks remained in the press hopper when production began on the new steel pennies. So far, we’ve only mentioned pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters made since 1965 which are generally the most common types of coins you’ll find in circulation these days. Only 40 of the 1943 copper-alloy cents are known to be in existence. Believe it or not, the above list of 9 rare coins to look for in circulation barely scratches the surface of valuable coins that you may find in your spare change. Bill Simpson, co-owner of the Texas Rangers, owns three of them.

The pennies remain the most famous and valuable of all wrong-metal issues.

A few of these bronze pennies made it out, however. Government halted the minting of copper-coated bronze coins – switching to steel instead – because copper was needed to manufacture ammunition during World War II. Today, pennies are made from copper-coated zinc. coins with numismatic appeal, major market fluctuations are far less frequent, but can and do happen.

Most valuable us coins