Why were pennies in 1943 made of steel instead of copper or zinc?

Question

first one to answer correctly wins 10 points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

I have one, and I asked the same question, and my mom told me, that it was because it was during the war times and they made them that way to save money, because of the war.. If I remember the story correctly .. That's what it was... Smile!!

Answer 2

Evryone here is right for the most part but what you have there is a ZINC penny. Currency cannot be made of Ferrous metals like steel. Ferrous metals contain iron ore and iron ore rusts. SO if you had a coin made from it it would rust away over time. That penny by the way dependant on its condition can be worht a couple of bucks.

Answer 3

Honestly, it's worth 1 cent. These zinc-coated steel pennies are very common, and one cleaned with steel wool wouldn't be worth anything but face value. As a side note, a pristine example graded MS68 could sell for $2,000 or more.

Answer 4

Copper was being used in the war effort, and could not be spared for the production of coinage. Pennies were stamped out of steel.

Answer 5

Because all the copper and zinc was needed to make war materials.

Answer 6

Copper was put into the war effort, using another metal was one way of helping out !

Answer 7

The copper was used in production of shell casings.

Answer 8

World War II had all the copper being used to make weapons...steel was used for coins!

Answer 9

At the time, copper was needed for the war effort.

Answer 10

Yes it was. Here's a link which shows you what the pennies were made of during which years.