1942 Cent Pattern - J-2059, Black Plastic

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,040 SP61 11-30-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

Judd-2059, Pollock-2249, is a black plastic cent pattern from the 1942 wartime testing program — one of the most extraordinary experiments in United States Mint history. The decision to test plastic as a coinage material was unprecedented and has never been repeated. By 1942, synthetic plastics had advanced considerably from their early-20th-century origins, and thermosetting and thermoplastic compounds could be molded into durable shapes with fine detail. A plastic cent would use no strategic metals whatsoever, making it the ultimate wartime substitute. However, plastic cents posed insurmountable practical challenges: they could not be struck in conventional coining presses designed for metal, they would melt or deform at moderate temperatures, they could be easily counterfeited with simple molds, and they could not activate mechanical coin-detection systems. The black plastic version, the first in the series of seven plastic and non-metallic compositions (J-2059 through J-2065), established that while plastic could reproduce the Lincoln design, the material was fundamentally unsuitable for circulating coinage.

Rarity Notes

R-7 to R-8. Extremely rare. Non-metallic cent patterns are among the most unusual items in all of American numismatics and are eagerly sought by collectors.

Cross References

Judd J-2059, Pollock P-2249; 1942 wartime cent composition testing program; black plastic; first of seven non-metallic compositions (J-2059 through J-2065)