The 1943-S Copper Penny Found by Kenneth Wing

Finding a 1943 Copper Penny: Luck or Skill?

Copper pennies dated 1943 are not supposed to exist. They are supposed to be made out of zinc-plated steel. However, some of these pennies exist, and it's a matter of sheer luck if you find one in pocket change. Although he found this penny over eighty years ago, it is a rare occasion, but possible that you can still find one today.

Some guys have all the luck, and some make their luck by creating the opportunity to be lucky. Teenage collector Kenneth S. Wing of Long Beach, California, created one of his most significant opportunities in the early 1940s. He decided to start checking the dates of all of the pennies he came across in pocket change to see if he could build a complete collection of Lincoln Cents.

Wing was ardent in his searching, even going to the extreme length of asking his parents to get rolls of pennies from the bank so he could search them. Wing eventually found a nearly complete collection of Wheat Cents in circulation, including a 1922-plain, but the 1909-S VDB never did show up. However, Wing did find a penny much rarer than the famed 1909-S VDB.

As Wing's son tells it today, Wing was 14 years old in 1944 when he made his rare penny find. The penny was dated 1943-S, but it was composed of copper rather than the expected zinc-coated steel. Wing took the coin to his local coin dealer, who made him a very generous offer for the time, $500, but Wing said he didn't want to sell the coin. So instead, he endeavored to learn more about it, writing to numerous experts and authorities in the succeeding decades.

Is the 1943 Copper Penny Genuine?

When the 1943-S copper cent finally came to light in 2008, the finder's heirs also provided a file of correspondence related to the coin. Among the experts Wing had received replies from, there was a response from the U.S. Mint. In a letter dated August 20, 1946, U.S. Mint Acting Director Leland Howard wrote: "In reference to your letter of August 11th, there were no copper cents struck during the calendar year 1943 at any of the coinage Mints. Only the zinc-coated steel cent was struck during that year."

Of course, we know otherwise today, but imagine what a letdown that must have been to a teenage boy hoping for official confirmation of what he knew had to be true: that the United States Mint struck the coin.

Wing didn't give up, though, and his persistence paid off. He showed the 1943 copper penny to the Director of the San Francisco Mint in 1948, who gave him the private opinion that it was genuine. A 1957 attempt by Wing's father to have the coin examined by the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., resulted in a referral to the Smithsonian Institution. It's a mystery why officials from the Treasury Department or the mint did not want to authenticate this rare coin.

More Opinions on the 1943-S Copper Penny

The Smithsonian felt the 1943 copper penny was genuine. This opinion was put in writing in a June 18, 1957, letter from V. Clain-Stefanelli, Curator of the Division of Numismatics at the Smithsonian: "The authenticity of this piece is, in my opinion, beyond doubt. As you certainly recall, Mr. Mendel L. Peterson, Acting Head Curator of the Department of History, fully concurred in this opinion."

It's great that two experts at the Smithsonian thought the coin was authentic. Still, it would be better to take the opinion of the numismatics expert over that of the History Curator. Either way, it's a good thing they both agreed.

Another letter in the correspondence file relating to the penny is from a leading coin dealer, Abe Kosoff. Unfortunately, it typifies the attitude of many coin dealers, who seem to put the love of a quick profit ahead of their love of numismatics. By 1958, the date of the letter from Kosoff, several 1943 copper cents had been deemed authentic. Nonetheless, on October 8, Kosoff wrote: "It would be of prime importance to determine, beyond any doubt, that your 1943-S Cent is a genuine one. This would require several tests and the outlay of considerable cash."

It is unclear what an "outlay of considerable cash" might mean or why it is required. Kosoff could have used a magnet, a simple 10x loupe, and a genuine near-year copper cent for comparison wouldn't have revealed if the 1943 copper penny was genuine or not.

The 1943-S Copper Penny is Rediscovered

According to Wing's son, Wing didn't talk about his 1943 copper cent very much. Wing's son had never even seen the coin until it was found in a safety deposit box after Wing's death in 1996. The coin has only now come to light in the greater collecting community because Wing's heirs contacted Steven Contursi of Rare Coin Wholesalers, hoping to authenticate the coin.

Contursi states that he doubted the coin was genuine until he tested it with a magnet. Upon finding that the coin didn't stick to the magnet like a copper-plated steel cent would have, Contursi sent the coin to NGC for authentication.

NGC found the coin to be genuine and graded it AU-53. Because of the extreme rarity of the type and the fact that the type is a classic mint error, NGC agreed to place special designations on the holder. The insert label includes "Kenneth S. Wing Jr. Coll." (for "Collection"). Contursi points out that the coin collecting community was unaware of this specimen. Although about a dozen genuine 1943 copper cents are known, examples from the San Francisco Mint are the rarest. Contursi paid $72,500 to acquire the coin and related correspondence file. The coin was sold again in January 2018 for $228,000 by Heritage Auctions.

Edited by: James Bucki