Next time you find a penny on the ground, go ahead and make a wish, AND then check and see if it's worth more than 1 cent!

I would venture to say that there is probably someone you know ( if not yourself ) who has a HUGE jar or bucket full of pennies. If you are like me, you probably have heard that old expression "A penny saved is a penny earned" - of course, the meaning behind that is the true value of saving money. So how about this..."A penny saved is a penny that could bring you $300,000" - I like that much better.

So here is what I would do if I were you, on a rainy day, or better yet, the second you get done reading this...

...go through every penny you have in your jar, and check for a couple of things - set aside all your pennies that are dated 1943 - you see back then copper was very much needed during World War 2 - pennies were minted from steel. A mistake could earn you some serious cash - according to watchdaytime.com "The 1943 bronze Lincoln cent is considered to be the most famous error coin made by the U.S. Mint and could be worth more than $300,000" So the bottom line here is that "Some copper pennies were made by accident" and "Copper pennies can go for 5-6 figures" check out this short video:


KHOU 11 YouTube

I realize you may have one simple question

"How can I tell if my 1943 penny is steel or copper?" I have two simple answers for you. Here is what usmint.com says "The easiest way to determine if a 1943 cent is made of steel, and not copper, is to use a magnet. If it sticks to the magnet, it is not copper. If it does not stick, the coin might be of copper and should be authenticated by an expert" Here is a good way of telling if your coin is FAKE or not - according to thesprucecrafts.com "   If the tail of the last digit in the date, the number 3, does not extend well below the bottom of the other numbers in the date, it is probably a cut-in-half 8 (see the photo above). If the 3 in your date looks like half of an 8, your coin is not a genuine 1943 copper penny"

So good luck to you

Next time you spot a penny on the ground, FIRST - pick it up and see if it will bring you some serious $$$, and THEN make a wish.


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