OBW '43 Steel Cents
ricko
Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have mentioned here before that twenty one years ago, I acquired two OBW '43 cent rolls. I had a mild suspicion they may have been checked before I got them... but the 'indication' was so mild, I kept them. I looked today, and still could not conclusively say they had been opened. So, I opened one roll...... SHAZAM!!! Aside from about three that were a tad cloudy, they are all bright, mirror like finish... beautiful condition. Will not open the other roll. I did check for any potential silver planchets....none.... 
But what a surprise.... Cheers, RickO
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Pictures, man! Pictures!!!
Sounds awesome.
We need pics!
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I'm going to start calling you "no pic rick".
Sounds cool!
Nice! Are you going to send a couple in to our Host? You never know, one can be a MS68? Did you see what those would bring?
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.P, D or S?
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Superb . . .and good for you! Glad they were A-OK!
Couldn't help remembering (waaaaaayyy OT) about the steelies I tried to buy from one of our scam artists a year ago. The only good thing was the extremely cheap tuition I had to pay to learn to be careful. No biggy . . . I was going to give them to our history teachers at my high school anyway, and I certainly learned my lesson.
Drunner
You can't open this can of worms without pictures.
Collector, occasional seller
No pictures....they were P mint...all of them.....Some really, really nice cents. Cheers, RickO
That's great. There are so many things that could have gone wrong with steel cents over the decades due to improper storage, etc.
Sounds fantastic and I am sure very pleasing for you to confirm you have the real deal. Congrats!
WS
@WaterSport....yes.... to be honest, I never expected them to look this nice. Sure, a couple (I believe three) were hazy gray.... the others were mirror like silver...... so much so, that I checked them all with a magnet...since there are known silver '43 cents. Cheers, RickO
RE: "the others were mirror like silver...... so much so, that I checked them all with a magnet."
This was one of the reasons why zinc coated steel cents only lasted one year. Even President Roosevelt joked to Treas. Secretary Morganthau that he had gotten arrested for thinking one of the cents was a dime and trying to use it in a pay-phone.
For a while the Mint tried to find a way darken the coins before release, but all the quick, easy methods involved chemicals that left potentially dangerous residue on the cents. They gave up and went back to "bronze" and recycling ammunition shell casings with extra copper added to reach approximately 95.5% copper. (More info in Pattern and Experimental Pieces of WW-II.)
Congrats on opening one of the roles @ricko
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I am not necessarily disputing what you wrote, and I have heard it said before that the US used shell casings for cents in 1944 (and maybe beyond). It may well have happened, but I strongly suspect that they used a shell casing alloy (brass), not actual recycled shell casings. Most of those were being generated in Europe and the Pacific, and I doubt they paid to haul them all back to the US.
Standard brass shell casings were collected from US military training bases; mostly 50cal. Beginning in 1944 these were recycled into coinage ingots by melting and then adding enough new copper to bring the alloy from 85% Cu, 15% Zn, to 95+% Cu and 5-% Zn. This was continued through 1947 and after as supplies became available.
Used shell casings were not suitable for recycling into new cases because of the volitization of zinc during melting. This made making new casings from virgin copper and zinc much cheaper than recycling.
There is considerable documentation of this in NARA, and you can read a summary in Pattern and Experimental Pieces of WW-II.
If I get my hands on that reference I surely will. Sounds like some interesting reading.
Not recycling shell casings I understand, but they should have reloaded them, at least for training purposes.
Interesting information concerning these one of a kind U.S. Cents is presented here, I appreciate all info.
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I demand proof or I call bs
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Wouldn't it be something if you cracked open the roll only to find them all gem rainbow toned?
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Very cool!
You have my address, right?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Glad you had better luck than I have had with these.
I had an OBW roll of 43-D that looked decent on the endcaps, but was horribly corroded otherwise..almost to the point of dust on several.
I did purchase an alleged OBW roll that was transferred to aluminum foil by the original collector after opening and it was very very nice, as were all of the rolls I purchased from this source.
All were wrapped tightly in foil.
So happy & excited for you! What an investment and a little history for the grandkids
US military only uses fresh virgin brass... after fired once it is sold in bulk for recycling. It can be used for reloading on the secondary market but not by military.. There was a big stink several years ago they they were going to shred the once fired casing before selling but that was blocked. XM193 5.56 casings being reloaded offer a large savings to the recreational shooter of this very popular round.
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Did you check for the DDO? In the C/P's guide.
As for the pictures, you really need to get a grandkid to help get you started. I have less than 200 invested in my set up. Not the best on here, but far from the worst.