Majority of 1943 steel cents escaped melt
Arizona Coin Collector
http://dev.numismaticnews.net/article/Majority_of_1943_steel_cents_escaped_melt/
Majority of 1943 steel cents escaped melt
October 30, 2008
By Alan Herbert
How did the Mint dispose of the 1,093,838,670 steel 1943
cents when they were removed from circulation?
The Mint began the withdrawal in 1945, and in 20 years
retrieved 163 million, or about 14.9 percent of the
steel cents in circulation. Apparently they were turned
over to private smelters to be melted down. Some 900
million are still out there.
I have found several coins in circulation that appear to
be proofs. Does the Mint put unsold proof coins in
circulation?
Unsold proof coins are destroyed by melting. Children
of collectors have been known to need pocket change,
raid a parent's collection and spend the coins
acquired. Some dealers also find it easier from time
to time to simply spend unneeded pieces from broken
up sets.
Isn't there an argument stating that aluminum coins
are medically dangerous?
It took awhile, but I found the item you refer to. At
the 1974 hearings on an aluminum cent before the House
Banking Committee, Dr. Richard E. Reichelderfer of
Johns Hopkins University testified that aluminum coins
are more difficult to detect with X-rays, and thus
could cause medical problems if swallowed.
Are there any early examples of world coins that
had mintage figures in the billions?
One example from close to home is the Mexico City
Mint. It struck more than 1.5 billion 8 reales
from 1580 to 1967.
How detailed are Mint records of gold coins melted?
Since 1914 they are detailed, but prior to that
only the bulk totals of all gold coins were
recorded. It doesn't help even for coins minted
after that, because the denomination breakdowns
still included older coins. From a numismatic
standpoint it would have been ideal if they had
kept a record of each date and mint melted, but
they didn't.
Were U.S. gold coins always legal tender at
face value?
This is something of a trick question, as the
answer is that they were not. Full weight gold
coins were legal tender at full face value,
including coins that had not exceeded the
allowable wear for the number of years they had
been in circulation. However, if a coin was worn
to the point of weighing less than the allowable,
then it was accounted to be legal tender only
"in proportion to their actual weight.
..