I’m 1941 & 1944 did they make a different kind of Penny? 1 1

[Erin33]

I’m 1941 and 1944 was there a different kind of wheat Penny made from something other then copper? Why does this Penny look this color? Usually they are brown? 

[JKK]

1941 was the standard bronze. 1944 was a slightly different but very similar bronze. The toning you are seeing might have come from being in an old Whitman album. They might have been cleaned and then put in an album, from the looks of it.

[cobymordet]

here are a few Wheats with a variety of color, mostly not good LOL

[Greenstang]

Copper can change many colours depending on the environment it was exposed to.  
It can also be the result of being cleaned.

[Sandon]

    The circulated 1941-D and 1944-D cents in your initial post are examples of coins that have been improperly "cleaned" or polished, giving them an unnatural and undesirable color and shine. The 1941 would be technically composed of bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc). From 1944 to 1946, expended cartridge cases were purportedly salvaged to obtain metal to mint cents, resulting in a slightly different composition (95% copper, 5% zinc) that was technically brass because it contained no zinc. However, there is no discernible difference between the normal appearance of circulated or uncirculated coins in either composition.

   All of the metals contained in these cents are chemically active and acquire various colorations in circulation. Only even light to dark chocolate colors are considered natural and desirable by collectors for circulated coins.  The coins in the photo in your second post that are very dark or have greenish patches or pitting would be considered to be corroded or otherwise environmentally damaged and undesirable. 

   FYI, here are photos of an original, full red uncirculated 1940 cent that PCGS graded MS 65 RD. Although the coin can't be fully appreciated from the photos, note the full, sharp details on Lincoln's cheek and the wheat lines and the bright and frosty (but not shiny) orange color that is quite different from that of the coins in your initial photos.

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Sandon

[RWB]

The normal one-cent coins alloy was 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc in approximately equal proportions, but not stipulated by law. In May 1941 the War Production Board, Copper Division, told the Mint Bureau to reduce tin to "a mere trace." All tine was diverted to essential war manufacturing. From 1944-1947 cents were of this identical alloy with part of the raw metal coming from melted brass cartridge cases. (Called "shell case" cents.) Since the final alloy was normal there is no visual or chemical distinction. After 1947 tine continued to be limited to a trace and in the last 1950s tin was eliminated by law.

Copper-based coins and other items have a wide variety of surface colors due to environmental contamination.

[Erin33]

Spoiler

These were inside my dads Penny album since the time he put them in until the time I took out..I will ask him is he cleaned them.
 

The number 1 things is no to ever clean coins. I hope he didn’t.

 

[Erin33]

On 10/2/2023 at 11:47 AM, cobymordet said:

here are a few Wheats with a variety of color, mostly not good LOL

Wow I never new there was so many different colors. Thanks for sharing 

[JKK]

On 10/2/2023 at 11:30 AM, Erin33 said:

Wow I never new there was so many different colors. Thanks for sharing 

Copper is a very reactive metal that can develop patina (or corrosion) from a wide variety of environments. In old coin albums, the coloring can come from sulfur in the paper; same for old coin rolls, which is how long-rolled coins can develop natural toning that begins at the rims. There are also cases, quite common in early Lincs, of woodgrain toning which I believe is caused by a slightly incomplete mixing of the copper alloy. They're really pretty, though it doesn't typically add tons of value.

[Coinbuf]

Neither of your two coins appears to be cleaned to me from your photos.   Copper is a very reactive metal and tones very easily depending on the storage and environmental conditions that the coins/metal come into contact with.   Also, the mint has used multiple sources for the raw copper over the years, that also lends itself to slightly different toning colors.   I have been a hard-core Lincoln collector for the past 40 years; I have seen Lincolns cents with just about every color imaginable, however the TPG's (like NGC) group copper into three colors groups, red, red-brown, and brown.   There is in fact a small group of collectors that rabidly seek out toned copper coins.

[powermad5000]

I am going to vote in the camp that these cents were previously cleaned (to the OP, please keep in mind that coins from this age approaching 100 years old could have been cleaned long before you acquired them). Imho, cents such as these that show even minimal wear should not have any details of the surface "shiny" as is evident on Lincoln's head. Mostly these coins turned brown or light chocolate. Plus, the photo showing the reverse of one of them is distinctly different than the obverse in color and tone (OP, also keep in mind only one side of a coin can be cleaned as well). 

[ldhair]

The coin was cleaned before going in the album. Who cleaned it will never be known.