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I came across a penny today that seemed to be an anomaly. It was a 1946 wheat penny, but it didn't sound like copper at all. I sort by ear, and have gotten to be very good at recognizing the distinctive ring made by copper cents as opposed to non-copper ones. Well this particular '46 penny made a thud noise that was consistent with zinc or steel, but certainly not copper. I know about the steel pennies during the war, but is it possible that they experienced a copper supply pinch during '46 as well? I have never heard of them switching the composition other than the steelies. So was I imagining things, or could this penny have been made with something other than copper?

PS- Don't have a scale to weigh the coin, so can't confirm by weight.

did you try a magnet?

Send it to me or another member. I'll/We'll be more than happy to weigh it and send it back. I'll even cover the return postage. Or you can do th popsicle trick to get a close guess. Accuracy will require a scale. Everyone on this board should have one.

Deal

Andy of Ryedale has had some chemical composition analysis as a function of year done - results in a post somewhere. Can't recall if 46 was one of the examples. But there were small changes in composition results over the years. And I think some of post-steel blanks were made of a slightly different alloy, recycled shell-casings, etc. But that wouldn't explain what you think you hear.

Yes pennies from 1944-1946 after the war were made with recycled shell casings, but it was still copper just like they were supposed to be as far as I'm aware. I don't know of anything special during that time. If you have a sensitive scale and the size is the same as other pennies you should be able to figure out what it's made of.

it could be a trick coin if it gives a thud sound, check the rotation of the reverse compared to the obverse and check for a seam around the edges.

Thanks for the feedback. Will try magnet.

avidbrandy wrote:Yes pennies from 1944-1946 after the war were made with recycled shell casings, but it was still copper just like they were supposed to be as far as I'm aware.

I've read that from numerous sources too. The thing that gets me is where were the casings retrieved from? From the battlefields or were they factory surplus somehow?

JerrySpringer wrote:

avidbrandy wrote:Yes pennies from 1944-1946 after the war were made with recycled shell casings, but it was still copper just like they were supposed to be as far as I'm aware.

I've read that from numerous sources too. The thing that gets me is where were the casings retrieved from? From the battlefields or were they factory surplus somehow?

Doubtful they would go through the trouble of bringing them from over-seas so it was probably from training/shooting ranges on US bases and from built-up surplus. That is just a guess I haven't heard about this before today.

Well it's definitely non-ferrous because a magnet wasn't attracted to it.