steel penny
1943 emergency coin
A steel penny is a United States one-cent coin made of zinc-coated steel rather than copper.
Steel pennies were minted in 1943 during World War II, when copper was needed for military equipment.
They're sometimes called "steelies" by collectors: I found a steel penny in my grandfather's coin jar.
- copperReddish-brown metallic element
- zincElement thirty
- scrap metalDiscarded reusable iron and steel
- wartimePeriod of armed conflict
- war effortOrganized wartime resource mobilization
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