First 1943 Non Steel Wheat Cent Discovery Piece Gets Slabbed & On Display At ANA Show.
Broadstruck
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NGC Certifies the King of Mint Errors
Posted on 8/13/2018
The first 1943 bronze cent to be discovered is now graded by NGC and will be on display at the NGC booth at the ANA World’s Fair of Money.
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) has certified the most famous of all mint errors: the Don Lutes, Jr. Philadelphia 1943 Bronze Cent. This legendary coin was the first discovery of a 1943 bronze cent, which is considered by many to be the King of Mint Errors.
The Lutes specimen is now graded NGC AU 53 BN and will be on display at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia, August 14-17, 2018.
1943 Bronze Cent, graded NGC AU 53 BN, and pedigreed as the Don Lutes, Jr. Discovery Specimen
Click images to enlarge.
All 1943 cents were supposed to have been struck on zinc-coated steel planchets to save precious copper for more critical wartime production needs. In prior years, cents were struck on planchets made of bronze (95% copper and 5% zinc).
Before long, rumors circulated that Ford Motor Company would offer a new car in exchange for a copper penny dated 1943. This bit of whimsy had an unanticipated effect: in 1947, a newspaper reported that someone had indeed found a 1943 cent coined in bronze: 16-year-old Donald Lutes, Jr. of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Lutes, a coin collector himself, had found his example in change from the school cafeteria.
While the numismatic community debated the merits of the Lutes report, the placement of another 1943 bronze cent at the 1958 ANA convention auction (this one discovered by Marvin Beyer sometime after the Lutes discovery) received nationwide attention. The interest only increased after Beyer pulled his coin from the sale at the last minute, which resulted in a lawsuit.
This media attention prompted Lutes to seek confirmation of his coin's genuineness. He loaned it to prominent numismatic researcher and authenticator Walter Breen in 1959, and Breen declared unhesitatingly that the cent was real.
Over the years since 1947 the legend of Lutes' 1943 bronze cent has only grown. It was never offered for sale, and the numismatic community was not able to see this amazing specimen until recently. Now elderly and living in a nursing home, Lutes has finally decided to pass on his prized discovery coin to a new owner: the coin, now certified by NGC, will be sold by Heritage Auctions.
A lustrous and glossy brown, the Lutes Discovery Specimen is just faintly worn and is among the more attractive of the 17 Philadelphia 1943 bronze cents that have since been confirmed. The NGC certification label features the pedigree “Don Lutes, Jr. Discovery Specimen,” preserving this coin’s important place in numismatic history.
“Like so many other young coin collectors growing up in the 1970s, there was always the dream of finding a 1943 copper cent,” said David J. Camire, NGC Grading Finalizer and a mint error expert. “This coin, for me, is certainly the 'Holy Grail' of mint errors. Rarely today does a discovery piece come to market, after all these years, still in the possession of the original owner. A 'dream coin' to many, soon someone will become only the second owner of this legendary rarity.”
Heritage Auctions President Greg Rohan added: "NGC's expertise in error coins is well-known in the numismatic community. After conferring with the consignor, the decision was clear to submit the coin to NGC.”
The Lutes Discovery Specimen will be on display at the NGC booth (#1417) at the ANA World’s Fair of Money from August 14 until noon on August 16. It will then be displayed at the Heritage Auctions booth (#711) through August 17. Heritage will offer the coin in a future auction.
Comments
How many collectors - and even non-collectors - have scanned their change (and rolls) for one of these gems. If my hobby of coin collecting comes up in conversation with non collectors, one question that almost always is asked, 'Have you found a 1943 copper cent yet?'....It is just part of the general lore. And yes, I still look for one...
Cheers, RickO
Yeah been looking for a 43 in change since I was a kid along with the 55 & 69-S DDO.
Member MFH and his friends as kids used to place the funny looking 55 cents they got from the cigarette vending machine on the railroad tracks.
Neat story, I like the write up. He held onto his treasure for 71 years, wow.
Wow, amazing story, absolutely amazing !!!
RE: "This legendary coin was the first discovery of a 1943 bronze cent, which is considered by many to be the King of Mint Errors."
If the coin is " legendary " then it is not real - only a myth.
I too have looked in my change all of my youth for this particular type coin. It is a beast and a rarity with a capital R
Found In change from the school cafeteria, that is awesome !!
Any auction projections on this little jewel ??
R.I.P Son 1986>2020
I've turned down an AU slabbed example that was offered to me many years ago...
As the thrill of the 43 is finding one, not buying one.
Legendary: remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.
I remember many,many years ago thinking I had found one. As usual was coated and magnetic. But for those brief few seconds aah.......euphoria.
This is why I check loose coins all the time. Yah never know. I am going to the WFM today. Can't wait to see it. Peace Roy
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...but...will it CAC?
What would the other reputable TPG's grade it as?
The are many collectors, and non-collectors alike, who have searched and continue to search for this needle in haystack...and you can count me among them.
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Cool Coin! I Love that era of coinage!
CAC does not sticker error coins anymore...
They did like 1 or 2 in the beginning and that was it.
On a coin like this AU50 at one service or AU53 at another is pretty much irrelevant.
only to know what we know today then
Can anybody elaboarate on the lawsuit mentioned guessing failure to sell item but was their something else to bring it about?
Don Lutes Jr. is a true coin collector.
To hold onto a valuable coin for 70+ years is the pure definition that the coin is more valuable then its monetary value.
He could have sold it back in the 1940's and enjoyed a great life.
He could have sold it in the 1980's when coin values were at there highest. He could have aligned the cash value to his retirement & lived even more comfortable.
But as the epitome of a true coin collector, he held onto the coin, the true treasure.
I wish i could be half the collector he is.
Chris
My dad (RIP: 1921-1999) told me about this "discovery" piece , back in the early '60's.
He said there were "maybe 13 or 14".
To see it "come out" in my life (market) is awesome coin news.
Still, it's a "dream" coin.
The owner deserves a "record" price. Just for his fortitude.
Great story and news.