There are a few rare 1943 pennies worth $100,000 or more. Do you have one of them???
While most rare pennies are valuable, very few rare coins even come close to rivaling this old 1943 wheat penny that’s worth 6 figures!
Here’s the scoop on the 1943 copper penny — how to tell if you’ve found one and how to spot fake 1943 copper pennies.
Is The Rare 1943 Penny Worth $100,000… Really?
Yes, a copper 1943 penny really is worth an average of $100,000. And, believe it or not, some are worth much more than that!
For example, one 1943-D copper penny commanded a whopping $1.7 million when it sold at an auction in 2010. Other 1943 copper pennies routinely sell for $100,000 to $200,000.
That sure is a lot of money for an old penny, right? It’s actually one of the most valuable mistakes the United States Mint ever made.
Why So Few 1943 Copper Pennies Were Made
So why was the copper 1943 penny made in the first place?
The copper 1943 penny is a type of error coin that was born when approximately 40 bronze 1942 penny planchets were mistakenly left in the hoppers at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints.
Those bronze planchets were fed through the machines without being noticed, and they were struck with 1943 penny dies — thus creating a handful of rare and valuable 1943 copper pennies!
1943 copper pennies were first discovered in 1944, and several more turned up in later years. The coin has always been a hit with coin collectors, commanding thousands of dollars even as early as the 1950s.
How To Find Copper 1943 Pennies
Finding a 1943 copper penny isn’t easy. So few of them exist (approximately 40), yet almost all of the 1943 copper pennies we know of today were originally found in pocket change.
In fact, the first known 1943 copper penny was discovered by Kenneth Wing, a teenage coin collector who found the coin in circulation back in 1944.
Wing made his discovery through constant searching. His goal was to complete a set of Lincoln cents that also included several other rare pennies, such as:
Today, you can still potentially find a rare 1943 copper penny in your pocket change. But it could take years upon years of searching each and every penny that passes through your hands — not to mention searching through bank rolls and possibly expanding your search to include estate collections.
You also have to be careful to watch for fake 1943 copper pennies. There are far more fake ones out there than there are real 1943 copper pennies!
How To Spot A Fake 1943 Copper Penny
When news of the 1943 copper penny arose in the 1940s and 1950s, the inevitable happened: people started copper-plating their regular 1943 steel pennies to pretend they had the real McCoy – or worse, to pass off to others as genuine.
Thankfully, there are several telltale signs for spotting a FAKE 1943 copper penny:
- It sticks to a magnet. If your 1943 penny does stick to a magnet, then it’s really made from steel and is not rare.
- It weighs less than 3 grams. A 1943 copper penny is heavier than normal (weighing about 3.11 grams, compared to a standard 1943 steel penny which weighs 2.7 grams). If your 1943 copper penny doesn’t weigh at least 3 grams, it’s most likely a steel cent.
- It has a date that doesn’t look right. Maybe your 1943 copper penny weighs about 3 grams and doesn’t stick to a magnet, but is it really an authentic 1943 copper penny? It could actually be a 1945, 1948, or 1949 copper penny with a retooled date. The “3” on a real 1943 copper penny should have an unusually long tail — just like the “3” on a regular 1943 steel cent.
A REAL 1943 copper penny:
- Weighs about 3.11 grams
- Does NOT stick to a magnet
- Has a date that exactly matches the style as seen on regular 1943 steel pennies
Here’s everything you need to know about weighing coins on a scale.
Don’t get fooled by a counterfeit! Fraudsters love taking a normal, common 1948 penny and grinding down the left side of the “8” to pass it off as a fake 1943 copper cent. Before you get overly excited, look through a 10x coin loupe at the style of the numerals. A genuine 1943 penny has a very distinct, long tail on the “3” digit that drops well below the bottom baseline of the other numbers. If the “3” looks short, stubby, or matches the bottom line of the “194”… a scammer most certainly modified it!
What To Do If You Have A Rare 1943 Copper Penny
Does your 1943 penny check out? Does it match all of the criteria for being a real 1943 copper penny? (Remember, it must not stick to a magnet and weigh about 3.11 grams.)
If you have a 1943 penny that seems to match the requirements listed above, congratulations! You may very well have a coin that’s worth $100,000 — or even more.
So what do you do with this rare and valuable coin? You can’t just turn it in at the bank and walk out with $100,000 in cash.
You’ll need to get your coin certified by a 3rd-party coin authentication firm. Nobody is going to pay you $100,000 or more for a coin that isn’t officially certified as authentic. That’s just not the way the rare coin business works.
Two of the best rare coin certification companies are:
Both have been around since the 1980s and have certified millions of coins. Some of the biggest coin auction firms in the world rely on the expertise of PCGS and NGC for grading, authenticating, and certifying rare coins.
How To Get Your Coin Certified By PCGS
After you’ve gotten your 1943 copper penny certified, how do you get cash for your rare penny?
Sell it to a coin dealer!
There are many great coin dealers. They can help you determine if it’s better to sell the coin directly to them or through an auction house.
This video points out even more rare and valuable pennies you can find in pocket change:
More Info About The 1943 Penny
In addition to the links I’ve included above, here are a few of our other articles to help you learn more about the rare 1943 penny — and other valuable pennies:
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