1943 Bronze Lincoln Cent

Copper and bronze were in short supply during World War II, which is why all pennies from 1943 are made from zinc-coated steel, instead. Almost all, anyway. This 1943 Bronze Lincoln Cent is one of just 10-15 surviving examples of pennies made from bronze planchets left over from 1942. They were fed into the coin press along with the steel planchets meant for 1943 production, and the resulting cent pieces subsequently slipped into circulation. This particular example was given to a high-school student in his cafeteria change in 1947 and was kept by the student until recently, when it went up for auction and sold for $204,000.