JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for March 16, 2013

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    ReneTray  about 11 years ago

    Yes on this story.

    WWII needed copper for war effort.

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    SCOTTtheBADGER  about 11 years ago

    Made them out of worn out ammo boxes, I am told.

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    charliefarmrhere  about 11 years ago

    Was there a real shortage of copper, or just a contrived one for psychological reasons to boost the publics feelings for supporting the war. I worked with a man who claimed to have helped destroy tons of then rationed butter during the war, for that very reason.

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    Brightspot60  about 11 years ago

    The copper shortage was probably real. Lots of the ‘sinews of war’[tanks, ships, aircraft, trucks, etc.] require electrical wiring; then, there’s brass[copper and zinc] for ammunition. So there probably WAS a copper shortage.

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    gmforde  about 11 years ago

    There was a real shortage of copper. The price skyrocketed to a point where the mint decided that it was cheaper to add some zinc and aluminum to it. The only copper left at this point is the color. Now they want to eliminate the penny altogether to “save” more money. The “gas shortage” of the 1970s was contrived. It was an embargo against the Arabs for what I don’t remember. Now Pres. Jimmy Carter is in love with them. Go figure that one out.

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    hippogriff  about 11 years ago

    gmforde: More oil was shipped from Persian Gulf ports to the US during the “Arab oil boycott” than the same period the year before. (Lloyds Shipping Gazette annual summary). The joke at the time that it would end when all storage capacity was full, was apparently correct, it was being stored in mothballed USN fleet tankers. Yet Canada, which was not boycotted, could only get OPEC oil from Indonesia, Nigeria, and Venezuela, none of which were “Arab” (and at that time, eastern Canada could not get Alberta oil because of the “Sarnia Gap”, now connected).

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    flyintheweb  about 11 years ago

    find a copper 1943 penny that is worth SERIOUS money (as in 6 figures). Think the 1944 were made from shell casings or something, too – but they were copper

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