PCGS -
Needle-in-a-haystack discovery graded Extra Fine by PCGS and valued at $235,000; the coin was held unverified by a Houston-area family for 60 years and went on public display Oct. 3.U.S. Coins and Jewelry has acquired a 1943 bronze
Lincoln Cent - one of an estimated 20 known to exist - that a Houston-area family held unverified for more than 60 years.
PCGS graded the coin Extra Fine, cert. 54723120, and values it at $235,000.
According to Charles Morgan, PCGS manager of numismatic research and programs, the example does not appear to have been recorded in any modern census of 1943 Philadelphia bronze cents.
The family purchased the coin from a collector in the early 1960s and never had it authenticated. They brought it to Houston appraiser Alvin L. Stern, who helped them get it certified by PCGS. Stern then offered the coin for sale to U.S. Coins and Jewelry, and co-owner Kenny Duncan, Jr., purchased it for display at his Katy Freeway showroom in Houston.
"Having an example of this ultra rarity is a dream of a lifetime," Duncan said. "Few examples are ever offered, and outside of the Smithsonian and American Numismatic Association collections, getting to view one is a privilege few get. Now Houstonian collectors and enthusiasts can come out and see this one in our store."
Duncan has examined thousands of 1943 cents brought in by people who believed they owned the rare version. All of them proved to be steel cents or copper-plated pieces. U.S. Coins and Jewelry has operated in Houston since 1985, and the coin is the first genuine 1943 bronze cent the store has owned.
During World War II, in an effort to conserve copper for the war effort, 1943 cents were struck in steel. More than a billion of these "steelies" were struck across the three U.S. mints. But a few old copper blanks remained in the presses and were struck with the 1943 date. The result is one of the best-known rarities in American numismatics.
The coins are steeped in lore, starting with the mid-century rumors that Henry Ford would give a new automobile to the first copper example found. Ford denied such claims, but the rumors persisted. The first known discovery of a 1943 bronze cent occurred in 1944 when 14-year-old Kenneth Wing, Jr., found one in his change. A few years later, another example was discovered by Don Lutes Jr. in his high school cafeteria. The Lutes coin is often referred to as the "Discovery Coin."
According to Morgan, the last publicized discovery of a 1943 bronze cent took place in 2023. That coin, a 1943-S struck at the San Francisco Mint, was authenticated and graded VF30 by PCGS. The 1943 bronze
Lincoln Cent is listed among the top few in 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, published by Whitman Publishing.
"The 1943 bronze cent is one of the most frequently submitted and most widely misidentified coins we see," PCGS President Stephanie Sabin said. "The overwhelming majority turn out to be common steel cents or copper-plated counterfeits. Confirming a genuine example, as we did with the XF40 specimen, is rare.
"The story behind this amazing 1943 bronze cent - held by the same family for more than six decades - shows there are indeed real treasures out there. It's always a thrill for us to authenticate and grade those submitted to us by those lucky collectors, and we wish you the best of luck in finding a genuine 1943 bronze cent."
Said Morgan: "Every coin collector dreams of finding a genuine 1943 bronze cent in their change. The magic behind this coin is its ordinary appearance; it would have seamlessly blended in with every other cent in circulation. Only a close examination of the coin's date and knowledge of the one-year composition change would make this coin stand out as something unusual, rare, and important. The specimen acquired by U.S. Coins is one of those needle-in-a-haystack discoveries. It displays honest circulation wear and likely passed through hundreds of unsuspecting hands before its previous owner plucked it out of circulation."
The coin will go on public display at U.S. Coins and Jewelry's second-floor showroom at 8501 Katy Freeway in Houston beginning Saturday, October 3. The store is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm.
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