A rarest glass penny has just sold for $70,500 (£57,300) at an auction in Fort Lauderdale.
The coin was made during World War II when copper was needed for ammunition so the US Mint authorised uncirculated tests using other metals, but also, plastic, rubber and glass.
The Blue Ridge Glass Co. in Tennessee made experimental pennies using tempered glass.
The penny’s former owner, Roger Burdette, says the coins’ impressions weren’t precise, their weight and size weren’t uniform and they developed sharp edges. He says they were likely destroyed.
The penny is likely unique since Burdette says only one other glass penny exists and it is broken.
The Mint made 1943 pennies from low-grade steel covered in zinc.
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