I had to work last night, and I decided to close the jewelry register. It’s not my job, but I figured it would help kill time until we were closed.

As I was scooping the coins from the drawer into a sack, a wheat penny caught my eye. I flipped it over, and looked at the date. 1945-D.

My eyes bugged out.

Holy shit. That was during World War II. Didn’t they mint zinc-covered steel pennies then, because copper was needed for the war effort? Aren’t copper pennies from then exceedingly rare?! Is this round piece of copper my ticket out of this shithole and into a larger tax bracket?!

I quickly shoved the penny into my pocket, and finished up the rest of the night.

This morning, I checked out coin pricing guides on the internet. I was fully expecting that the coin was worth nothing (or, perhaps, 1¢) To my surprise, I saw that a coin in moderate condition could be worth $300 to the right numismatist.

Now I was excited. I figured my next stop should be to go to eBay, and see it anyone would actually pay that amount.

No. No one would. There are several listings for 1945D pennies, and none of them are selling for even a dollar.

Damn.