1942 Cent Pattern - J-2067, Bakelite

Coin Details

Auction Record

$4,617 MS63 06-21-2006 American Numismatic Rarities

Description

Judd-2067, Pollock-2257, is a Bakelite cent pattern from the 1942 wartime testing program. Bakelite, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907, was the world's first fully synthetic plastic — a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin that, once cured, could not be melted or reformed. This property gave Bakelite significant advantages over thermoplastics for coinage: it was heat-resistant, electrically non-conductive, and considerably harder than most other plastics available in 1942. Bakelite was already widely used in consumer products from radios to telephones to jewelry, so the public was familiar with the material. However, Bakelite's inherent brittleness made it prone to chipping and cracking under the stresses of coin handling — being dropped on hard surfaces, jostled in pockets, and fed through mechanical coin-handling equipment. A Bakelite cent that chipped or cracked in circulation would be unsightly and potentially unacceptable to merchants, undermining the denomination's utility.

Rarity Notes

R-7 to R-8. Extremely rare. Bakelite patterns are particularly fragile and survivors in good condition are exceptionally scarce.

Cross References

Judd J-2067, Pollock P-2257; 1942 wartime cent composition testing program; Bakelite (phenol formaldehyde resin); Leo Baekeland (inventor, 1907)