Check Your Coins, Michiganders, For a Penny Worth $300,000

Many people keep an old jug around to store change, it may be worth sifting through those coins because there may be a penny in there worth $300,000.

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Collecting Change

Collecting change was something everyone used to do back in the day.

Back then, it was common for someone to have a jar of change or even jars of change tucked away for a rainy day.

When I was kid, it was a big deal to discover some couch change if I wanted to head up to the store for a pack of gum or a candy bar.

I can remember when I was old enough to drive and gas was under a dollar per gallon, going through the couch cushions, looking under the seats of my car, and grabbing whatever was in the change jar to get $5 bucks in gas to hang out with my buds.

Most People Don't Collect Change Anymore

In today's world, most people don't use cash anymore. There are a lot of businesses that won't even accept cash as payment. I ran into that at Cedar Point.

You don't have to leave your home to buy stuff anymore, you can just use your debit or credit card and pay for almost anything you need online. So there is no need for change but does that mean change is not worth anything anymore? It might mean it's worth even more.

Better Check Your Change Jar There Might Be a Penny in There Worth $300,000

If you have a piggy bank, jar, or jug of change, it won't hurt to sift through it before you haul it to one of those change machines because some of it may be worth some serious cash.

During World War II, there was a copper shortage because all copper was being diverted to the military so pennies were made of steel in 1943.

A steel 1943 penny is a pretty good find and I actually have one of these tucked away because if they are a wheat-backed version they can be worth anything from $8.25 to $35,000.

Still, some pennies were made of copper in 1943 by mistake from the U.S. Mint and that mistake could earn you up to $300,000. It may not hurt to sift through your old pennies to see what you may find. There are a couple of ways to make sure the penny is not a fake, look at the 3 in the picture above, the number goes down below the 4. Many of the 1948 pennies have been grinded down to a 3 but the number will be even with the 4. Another way to test the penny is it weigh it because it should way a little more than 3 grams and should be magnet-proof.

You better believe I will be sifting through my old jug of coins looking for a 1943 copper and a few others. Here is a link to the top 100 valuable American coins to look for.