Indian Head Buffalo Nickel + (2) 1943 Steel Wheat Penny Lot – Old US Coins

You Get 3 Total Coins:
(1) Indian Head Buffalo Nickel (Random Mint and Date, Average Circulation)
AND
(2) 1943 Steel Wheat Pennies (Random Mint, Average Circulation)
The coins you receive will be similar in quality to the coins pictured!
History of Steel Wheat Penny:
The 1943 silver colored penny is a wartime coin issue made of steel and coated with zinc.
During
World War II, the war effort required a lot of copper to make shell
casings and munitions. In 1943 the penny was made out of zinc plated
steel to save copper for the war effort which is why most 1943 pennies
are silver colored.
Metal was not the only commodity that was
critical to the war effort. American citizens were asked to conserve
food such as sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. Critical goods
were ration to American citizens using coupon books issued by the
government. Most critical of all was gasoline.
To help the
war effort by eliminating copper from U.S. pennies, the United States
Mint came up with a new metallic composition for the one cent piece.
They decided on using steel for the base metal and plating it with pure
zinc. Unfortunately, zinc oxidizes over time and turns into a dull and
dark gray color.
Moisture came in contact with the coins as they
circulated in commerce. The moisture caused the zinc coating to turn to
an ugly blackish color. As the zinc coating wore off the steel core the
exposed steel underneath began to rust.
History of the Buffalo Nickel:
The
Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel is a copper-nickel five-cent piece
that was struck by the United States Mint from 1913 to 1938.  It was
designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. As part of a drive to beautify
the coinage, five denominations of US coins had received new designs
between 1907 and 1909. In 1911, Taft administration officials decided to
replace Charles E. Barber’s Liberty Head design for the nickel, and
commissioned Fraser to do the work. They were impressed by Fraser’s
designs showing a Native American and an American bison. The designs
were approved in 1912, but were delayed several months because of
objections from the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, which made mechanisms
to detect slugs in nickel-operated machines. The company was not
satisfied by changes made in the coin by Fraser, and in February 1913,
Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh decided to issue the coins despite
the objections.