1942 Cent Pattern - J-2069, Glass 42-70

Coin Details

Auction Record

$70,500 SP64 01-04-2017 Heritage Auctions

Description

Judd-2069, Pollock-2259, is a glass cent pattern from the 1942 wartime testing program — the most fragile and impractical of all the experimental compositions, and a testament to the Mint's commitment to testing every conceivable material. Glass is transparent or translucent, brittle, and shatters on impact — qualities that make it the least suitable coinage material imaginable. Yet the Mint tested it anyway, for completeness and because specialty glass formulations with improved impact resistance were being developed for military applications. The "42-70" suffix connects this piece to the broader Reed-Brenner experimental series. A glass cent would be essentially non-functional in circulation: it would shatter when dropped, could cut fingers when broken, and would be destroyed by any coin-counting or vending machine. The glass cent pattern stands as the ultimate expression of wartime urgency — when the nation's coinage supply was threatened, no material was too unusual to merit evaluation, however briefly.

Rarity Notes

R-8. Extremely rare. Glass patterns are the most fragile of all 1942 compositions and intact survivors are exceptionally scarce. Among the most unusual items in American numismatics.

Cross References

Judd J-2069, Pollock P-2259; 1942 wartime cent composition testing program; glass composition; RB-42-70 series connection