LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Signature Coin - Charlotte, NC #434  / 

2035

1944 1C --Struck on 1943 Zinc-Plated Steel Planchet--Im

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:280.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1944 1C --Struck on 1943 Zinc-Plated Steel Planchet--Im
<B>1944 1C --Struck on 1943 Zinc-Plated Steel Planchet--Improperly Cleaned--NCS. AU50 Details.</B></I> 2.8 gm. The 1944 steel cents are lesser-known cousins to the 1943 copper cents, coins that have assumed mythic proportions in the eyes of even noncollectors--and coins that can be the bane of modern-day coin dealers, since the vast majority of reported specimens are counterfeit. Even though the Mint's experiment with the 1943 steel cents was a disaster--and, according to Lange, the coins were too often confused with dimes, and the pieces would likely have been curtailed in 1943, were it not for the fear of creating modern rarities--when 1943 ended, the Mint was left with 25 million zinc-coated steel planchets that were pressed into service to create two franc coins for the newly liberated Belgium. While the planchets intended for the 1943 coinage are indistinguishable from those destined for the Belgian pieces, those routes both could have resulted in the creation of 1944 steel cents at the Philadelphia Mint, whereas only the former explanation is possible in the case of D- and S-mintmarked 1944 steel cents.<BR> Lange's third edition of his Lincoln cent reference (2005) puts the number of surviving 1944 steel cents at 27 examples, none of them below Very Fine but many corroded. Regarding the present example, prospective bidders should be completely undeterred by the NCS caveat, as this coin's appearance is as pleasing as its rarity is legendary. A bit of light spotting is mostly unseen without a high-powered loupe, and a small planchet void, as made, occurs under AME of AMERICA. Overall, this is an attractive and high grade example of this, one of the most popular error coins in all of U.S. numismatics.<BR><I>From The Southland Collection.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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