Glass penny made in World War Two to sells for an £57,000

A one-of-a-kind glass penny created throughout the Second World Warfare to fight a scarcity of copper has offered for a whopping £57,000.

The experimental coin was manufactured in 1942 when the US Mint tried out different supplies, corresponding to plastic and rubber, so the nation's copper provide could possibly be used for ammunition.

However the cash, created from tempered glass, failed as a result of the impressions weren't exact, the load and dimension wasn't uniform and the cash had sharp edges which reduce individuals's fingers.

The experimental coin was manufactured in 1942 when the US Mint tried out different supplies, corresponding to plastic and rubber, so the nation's copper provide could possibly be used for ammunition

It's believed most have been destroyed and this one is the one recognized surviving intact glass penny. One different exists however is damaged in half.

The coin was found and bought at a small public sale in August final 12 months by Roger W. Burdette, creator of the e book United States Sample and Experimental Items of World Warfare II.

Mr Burdette has tried to analysis the coin's previous however has been unable to seek out out the place it has been the final 75 years.

It's fabricated from tempered, yellow-amber clear glass obtained from Corning Glass Firm.

Mr Burdette mentioned: 'Wartime shortage of copper required the US mint change copper for the one cent coin.

'Plastics fabricators, significantly those that made buttons, started to experiment with items the scale of a cent however the Blue Ridge Glass Firm of Kingsport, Tennessee, requested a chance to experiment with glass in late 1942.

The uncommon piece had an estimate of £24,000 ($30,000) however smashed this determine to promote for greater than double that

'We all know that earlier than doing any of the work, Blue Ridge Glass had among the staff carry among the blanks of their pockets for just a few days as a check, however the blanks chipped and created sharp edges. I feel it might have been powerful for the general public to just accept them as cash.'

By the point the glass cent exams have been accomplished in December 1942, it was too late for the US Mint to contemplate them as a viable alternative for the penny. After experimenting the Mint finally struck cents fabricated from zinc-coated metal in 1943.

The uncommon piece had an estimate of £24,000 ($30,000) however smashed this determine to promote for greater than double that - £56,923 ($70,500) - at Heritage Auctions in Florida.

Mark Borckardt, senior numismatist at Heritage Auctions, mentioned: 'The current 1942 glass experimental piece is the one intact instance found in almost 75 years because the experiments.

'This one-of-a-kind cent is part of US historical past. Collectors like to personal uncommon specimens, and though glass failed as an alternative choice to US coinage, this piece represents a singular artifact of the ingenuity and willpower of Mint officers and personal trade.'

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