2017-08-10 Thu

A 1943 Lincoln penny was sold for $282,000 as it was produced by using the wrong material and a 1792 Penny, which came to the market after 130 years, was sold for $211,500 on 2nd August in Denver, Colorado during the World’s Fair of Money. Since it was the first time that these coins were auctioned, collectors were highly excited. Experts believe that only 10 to 15 of these cents are known to exist today.

The Lincoln penny was to be made of zinc-coated steel due to copper shortages during World War II. The offered error coin was struck on bronze left over from 1942 instead. Experts state that bronze blanks from the earlier year were accidentally fed into the coin presses. The 1943 U.S. pennies are popularly known as "steelies", and many of them were removed from circulation by 1960.

The offered 1792 Penny is claimed to be a long-lost Birch Cent which was last auctioned in 1890 for only $75 by famous collector Lorin G. Parmelee. These coins are called “Birch cents” since the engraver’s name is inscribed on them.