The Startling Response

It wasn’t until a few days had passed that Lutes finally received his letter. But when he opened the letter the response actually left him feeling a little disappointed. He came to know that his letter was not the only inquiry ever received by the treasury regarding the penny he had in his possession. They responded back with a standard letter that they sent to anyone who inquired about the 1943 penny. The letter said “In regard to your recent inquiry, please be informed that copper pennies were not struck in 1943. All pennies struck in 1943 were zinc coated steel.”

Life Goes On

Disappointment only lingered for a little while for Lutes. Even though the ministry did not confirm anything special about his penny, Lutes still held onto it and kept it in his collection at his home. He went on to live his life as he would, only he knew that his penny was special and believed he was lucky to have found it.

New Seller

While the Treasury had denied that Lutes’ penny was not special, it was enough to catch the attention of people in the numismatic community. People were busy debating about the penny whether it was genuine or not. Meanwhile, there was a placement of another 1943 copper penny at the 1958 ANA convention auction.

Lawsuit For Penny

This copper penny was discovered by Marvin Beyer, sometime after Lutes’s discovery. This penny, being displayed at the ANA convention, received nationwide attention and caused a stir in the numismatic community. The interest only developed further when Beyer pulled his coin from the sale at the auction at the very last minute. It resulted in a lawsuit.

Another Try

All of the media attention caused Lutes to once again seek confirmation of his discovery’s genuineness. After much thought being put into this decision, Lutes decided to loan his penny to a remarkable numismatic researcher Walter Breen in the year 1959. Breen declared unhesitatingly that the cent was real.

Numismatics

By now it is established that Lutes was passionate about collecting coins. Over the next few decades, Lutes continued to collect coins and managed to expand his collection. He had a collection of over 50,000 rare coins. However, the 1943 Lincoln copper penny would always be the star of his collection.