Americans everywhere pulled together into a united effort as never before. The industrial output that resulted from that effort, combined with individual Americans' determination, self-sacrifice, raw courage, dedication to duty and country, and faith in God's deliverance, ensured the defeat of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Facist Italy. Certainly America did not do this alone. Our great allies fought the war longer and suffered much more, but without America, victory with unconditional surrender could not have happened. America was truly the crucial force that made the world safe for democracy.
Nothing captures the essence of that great effort more than The Steel Penny.
In 1943, pennies were made of steel because the copper normally used was sorely needed for the war effort. Also, the design of the Steel Penny superbly encapsulates the values and aspirations of that great historical moment in time. Additionally, its date prophetically proclaimed the year that the Allies would score the major successes that turned the tide toward ultimate victory, and the emancipation of the world from the tyranny of The Axis Powers. With the bust of Abraham Lincoln emblazoned upon its face, the 1943 Steel Penny gloriously symbolizes America's view of the world-wide struggle then underway. Thus, the common 1943 Steel Penny majestically exemplifies the common values and the common virtues of Americans of that time.