A Rare 1943 Wheat Penny In Your Coin Jug Could Be Worth $100,000 or More

To say that I was excited when I found a 1943 Wheat penny in an old coin collection would be an understatement. According to Luxe Digital, a version of that coin "sold for $1,750,000 in 2010." So when I see people down at the Fort Myers Publix dumping all their change into the coin machine I wonder if they took the time to check those coins first.

There's a lot of unique coins that could net you quite a bit of cash. We've talked before about this with the unique Wisconsin quarter. If you found that one it might have made you 6 grand. But let's talk about the penny that could make you a millionaire.

So here's the story. Back in 1943, World War 2 was raging and the US Government needed the copper for ammunition. So they made almost all of the pennies that year out of steel. There was still material left in the mint presses from the 1942 production so they accidentally made one batch out of copper. Only about 20-40 of those pennies are out there. A used one, as most are, can net you from $100,000 - $500,000. A very specific version of this penny could could be worth 2 million.

This is a very simple test. Go get a magnet. If the coin sticks to the magnet, it's made of steel and worth about 10 cents. If the penny does not stick to the magnet, you've got one. Call off work tomorrow because you need to go get that penny appraised. My penny? Well, it stuck to the magnet.

In 1944 they switched back to copper pennies. But there was still some steel planchets left and they somehow got mixed into the batch. So just like there's a few copper 1943 wheat pennies worth a lot of money, there's also a few steel 1944 pennies worth serious cash. Based on sales of these pennies, if you can find one, is around 10 grand on up to $500,000. As always, condition is everything. If you have a 1944 wheat penny and the color looks off, see if it sticks to a magnet. If it does - you got one.

This can't be good. The 2023 Hurricane Names list is out. It looks like it's already time to start thinking about the hurricane season in Southwest Florida. But why did they have to name one of this year's storms "Lee"? Like Lee County wasn't punished enough last year, let's go ahead and do this.

The National Hurricane Center is making a change to reporting of the storms for the 2023 season. Instead of the usual 5 day, they're switching to a 7-day tropical weather outlook. More info and a longer timeline is always better. The yellow, orange, and red color coding for development will not change and we'll still get regular updates at 2 p.m., 8 p.m., 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT.

As far as the names go, they use a list that repeats every 6 years minus the really bad ones. The 2017 season was ugly. The season featured 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes. Three of the names that year were retired, Harvey, Irma and Maria. You'll certainly remember Irma as it hit Southwest Florida near Marco Island as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph. The name 'Irma' has been retired. Then there was last year's Ian.  This year's 'I' storm will be named Idalia. I'm not sure how to pronounce that and here's to hoping we don't have to learn.

Here's the 2023 Hurricane Names, and a fact about that last time each name was used.

In 2017, Tropical Storm Arlene formed on April 16. It was not a major storm, but it kinda let us know what was coming.

The 2017 version of Bret targeted Venezuela in June.

The 2017 Tropical Storm Cindy targeted  Louisiana, spawned tornadoes, and killed 3. 

In July of 2017, Tropical Storm Don formed but didn't last.

2017 Emily directed effected us. Heavy rainfall produced by Emily caused widespread flooding in Polk and Pinellas counties. Coastal flooding was reported in Hillsborough,  Manatee,  Sarasota, Lee, and Collier counties, causing additional road closures. A tornado touched down Bradenton, destroying two barns and multiple greenhouses. The storm indirectly led to flooding in Miami where 6.97 in of rain fell in 3.5 hours. 

The 2017 Hurricane Franklin hit central America on July 27th.

The 2017 Hurricane Gert skirted by North Carolina's Outer Banks and then set it's sights on - Ireland. That's right, Gert looped all the way back around and was responsible for flooding in Ireland.

Harold is new to list after the 2017 Harvey was retired. However, the name Harold has been used before. Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold was a very powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga during April 2020.

The next new name to the list. NOAA actually a pronunciation list. Idalia ee-DAL-ya. Maybe the I storm can skip us this year.

2017 Hurricane Jose was massive and nearly a category 5.  But then, a large mid-latitude low-pressure area offshore Atlantic Canada and the circulation associated with Hurricane Irma resulted in the collapse of steering currents, causing Jose to decelerate and execute a cyclonic loop. Off to sea.

Katia KAH-tyah

In September of 2017,  Katia struck Mexico just days after a major earthquake struck the country

On September 26, 2017 Hurricane Lee became a Cat 2 but was never a threat to land. I do wish, however, that NHC would consider not using the name seeing as how large portions of Lee County are still a mess from last year. It's not like we need the reminder.

A new name after the 2017 Maria name was retired. I'm assuming they picked the name Margot after watching Christmas Vacation. If a Hurricane Margot forms this year, I'd expect memes.

Clearly a Spinal Tap reference. Again, expect memes.

In 2017, Ophelia went to the right. On October 16, Ophelia ceased to be a tropical cyclone after merging with a strong cold front about 310 mi  southwest of Mizen Head, Ireland. The extratropical low made landfall on the west coast of Ireland at Category 1-equivalent intensity later that day, several hours before striking northern Scotland. 

Philippe fee-LEEP

The 2017 Tropical Storm Philippe spawned three  tornadoes in southeastern Florida. One of those damaged dozens of homes in Boynton Beach, while another produced a wind gust of 74 mph in West Palm Beach.

Rina REE-nuh

2017 Tropical Storm Rina formed on November 7th and did not make landfall.

Rina was the last named storm of 2017. The 2011 Tropical Storm Sean was the last named storm of 2011. It formed on November 8th and didn't amount to much.

Let's just hope we don't get this far.

Hopefully not needed.

That's the last on the list. Here's to hoping we don't need them.

Some info from Wikipedia was used. The names list comes from the National Hurricane Center. They've actually posted a preliminary list all the way through 2027 but will make updates if any of the names are retired.