Came Across Two Steel Cents?

Hi Jayson. A few 1943 cents were made of bronze,(.950 copper,.050 tin and zinc weight 3.11 grams) an error of sorts. By the same token, a few 1944 cents were struck in zinc coated steel, another error of sorts.(weight 2.70 grams)

The cent coinage of 1944-1946 were called "cartridge case cents" because they were made of salvaged cartridge cases from WWII. The unc coins sometimes had a different color because they did not contain the small quantity of sinc.(weight the same as traditional bronze cents) A magnet will generally tell you if a cent is bronze or steel. I hope this helps you out. Can you post some Pic's of these? They sound kind of curious. Mike

When I was a kid, I used to find the "steel" cents in my pocket on a regular basis. Now, it's been years since I found one.