OT- Lightside penny lore

laurentyvan

In reading a book entitled 'Wartime' by Paul Fussell, in his chapter 'Rumors Of War', he relates the following:

"Some rumors developed out of jokes or puzzles but became no less gripping for that. For example, the one holding that if you sent Ford Motor Company a 1943 copper penny, the company would send you a brand new Ford. The catch was that pennies dated 1943 were made not of copper but of steel with a zinc surface. The rumor of the free Ford, which began with this joke, soon spread widely in a serious form.
Many members of the Marine Corps believed that free Ford cars would be given the first 100 marines to set foot on the Japanese main islands."

I can see thousands of soldiers searching in vain for that 1943 copper penny, and of course, many would-be collectors still do to this day.

Any other rumors out there that involve coins?

CIVITAS

Well there's all the state quarter "recalls" for one.

Delaware: Recalled because it said Caesar Rodney instead of Paul Revere.
Massachusetts: Because the minuteman had a gun and gun control activists lobbied to have it recalled.
New Hampshire: Because Man in the Mountain collapsed.

I'm sure there were others that I can't think of right now.

coinrookie

Actually there are about 23 1943 copper pennies that exist.

satootoko

<< <i>Actually there are about 23 1943 copper pennies that exist. >>

And plenty of folk who would be glad to trade you a new Ford for one of them.

Conder101

1814 large cents had gold accidently mixed in with the copper. (Oddly this same rumor exists for the copper coins of other countries for this same date.)
The bars were removed from the shield nickels in 1867 because the "stars an bars" was a Confederate symbol.
The 1883 no cent nickel was goin to b recalled because of the "design error".
The Jefferson nickel was going to be recalled because he left the flagpole off the top of Monticello.
Because of a secret agreement beween the US and the USSR, Josph Stalins initials were put on the new Roosevelt dime.
Liberty's breast was covered on the standing Liberty quarter because of a great public outcry.
Proof of a communist connection in the assasination of Kennedy is shown by communist sympathizers at the mint placing the hammer and sickle on the truncation of Kennedy's bust. (Gilroy Robert's monogram.)
The 1804 dllar is so rare because they were all shipped to Tripoli to pay tribute, but the ship was lost at sea.