By Bullion Shark LLC ……
About 10 months into the U.S. involvement in World War II that begin in December 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States Mint began producing silver nickels. These coins were made of an alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese rather than 75% copper and 25% nickel as the coins had been made since 1866. So why was the metallic composition of the coins changed?
Copper and especially nickel were both metals with strategic uses for the war and were more valuable than silver at the time. For example, nickel could be used to harden the metal in heavy tanks and for other military purposes.
Earlier in 1942, on March 27, a law was enacted that called for completely eliminating nickel from five-cent coins, suggesting the coins be made of 50% silver and 50% copper. This plan would have saved 435 tons of nickel and copper for the war effort, but technical problems were encountered. In particular, those substitutes for nickel would not work properly in coin-operated machines because the machines test the weight of the coins, which would require retrofitting all those machines. In addition, silver does not have magnetic qualities which were also needed for the machines.
Various possibilities were examined including experiments to find an alloy without nickel that would not be rejected by the machines or reviving the silver half dime. Eventually, it was discovered that adding some manganese to the alloy would create the necessary magnetism, which is what led to the particular nickel composition of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese.
This alloy was used from mid-1942 through December 1945, six months after the war ended when nickel and copper were no longer needed in large quantities. Prior to October 1942 nickels made of the regular alloy continued to be made at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.
To make it easy to spot the silver war nickels from other nickels, a large “P” mintmark was added on the reverse side of the coins above the dome of Monticello, Jefferson’s famous estate in Virginia. In addition, since coins made of the normal alloy had already been produced at Philadelphia earlier in 1942, the silver nickels made there were the first U.S. coins struck at that mint that sported a mintmark. This change was also made to make it easier to spot the coins when they were redeemed at banks.
The silver nickels were also easy to spot when freshly minted because they had a dazzling brilliant finish on them that was whiter in appearance than regular nickels and often with sharp striking of the details. However, with time the finish tarnished and toned, often becoming a dull grey and less attractive, which also happened with the 1943 steel pennies made for the war effort too.
Recent research adds an interesting twist to why the silver war nickels were made.
An article by Mark Benvenuto published in The Numismatist magazine in 2000 explained that the change in nickel alloy may have saved as much as 827,163 pounds of nickel but that the amount was actually insignificant since 300 million pounds of nickel were produced annually during World War II. The author speculates that the real reason for the change in composition was probably to boost the morale of American citizens by showing the Mint was doing its part in the war effort by doing without nickel.
This is an interesting theory, and it is also worth noting that at the same time the U.S. made this change, other countries were making similar changes to their coinage, such as Canada, which also removed nickel from its five-cent coins during the war.
U.S. silver nickels were withdrawn from circulation in the mid-1960s when the silver content of coins exceeded their face value, but once in a while they are still found in change.
How much are silver war nickels worth?
Silver nickels contain .05626 ounces of silver, which with silver at a current spot price of $24 per ounce, makes any silver nickel worth at least $1.35 each. Circulated examples are easy to source today and can be purchased in rolls for about their silver value.
Naturally, some of these coins are worth much more, especially if they are in high mint state condition and include Full Steps details on the reverse, or if they are one of the rare variety coins such as the 1943-P 3 over 2 (worth from $125 in XF to as much as $5,500 in MS67 Full Steps), 1943-P Double Die (worth from $55 in XF to $300 in MS60 and as much as $7,500 in MS67 Full Steps), or 1945-P Double Die reverse (worth from $52 in XF to $275 in MS60 and as much as $11,500 in MS66 Full Steps).
A type example of a silver nickel in MS60 (which is not hard to find) is worth $6, while an MS65 is $25 and MS67 $70 and examples with Full Steps are worth more. A top-grade MS68 FS is worth over $6,000.
A set of the 11 date and mintmark silver war nickels in nice mint state (about MS63) can be had for $150.
The highest mintage silver war nickel is the 1943-P, with 271,165,000 coins struck. About 20% of these coins can be found with 5 of 6 steps on Monticello, while examples with all 6 steps are scarce.
In addition to the 1943-P 3 over 2 (with somewhere around 100-200,000 examples made but only a couple hundred mint state coins have been found) and the rarer 1943-P double die variety coins (where there appear to be two eyes on Jefferson instead of the one shown in the left-facing profile on the obverse), some of these coins were also struck from the prior alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel, which were made in error from leftover planchets. There are also some 1942-P nickels made of the original alloy as well as some 1946 nickels made with the wartime alloy.
To this day, the silver war nickels continue to fascinate coin collectors. There are many different ways to collect the coins depending on your interests and budget and you may even still find one in change. And if you look closely at your nickels, you might even find one of the scarcer variety coins.
Nickels may be just pocket change to most people, but coins from the silver nickel years are incredible rarities to coin collectors. If you have ever been curious about what years silver nickels were struck, wondered when did they stop making nickels out of silver, or why only some nickels had silver content rather than their namesake metal, read on.
World War II, which began on September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, was a watershed period for the entire world, including the United States. Its decision to intervene, which had been discussed for years, came the day after the attack on its forces in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It changed the course of the war and ultimately resulted in the triumph of the allied forces over the Nazi-led axis and most importantly in the victory of democracy over fascism.
The war, which began in Europe and was extended to Asia, had a global reach, with huge repercussions on American society and the U.S. economy too, including on our coinage. In particular, the extensive war mobilization effort necessitated the conservation of critical materials including copper and nickel that were used in armaments like tanks and in munitions. That meant that the composition of some of our minor circulating coinage, specifically the workhorse coins of American commerce - pennies and nickels, had to be changed.
Since not all collectors are familiar with what years nickels were made of silver, to learn when the special war-time nickels were issued and when they stopped being made, some history is useful.
For pennies, that resulted in the issuance of the only steel pennies ever struck, while for nickel, it resulted in another unique period for that denomination, namely, the release of 35% silver nickels. That happened towards the end of 1942 in October and continued through the end of 1945.
Nickel was important because it was used to make military armor stronger and to prevent rust and corrosion, while copper was used to make shell casings for munitions. Nickel production at the time averaged around a quarter of a billion per year, and nickels were being made of a mixture of 75% copper and 5% nickel as they had since 1866 when the denomination debuted. Pennies, which were made to the tune of about 1 billion a year at the time, were then made of 95% copper.
As a result, on March 27, 1945, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 507, whose Title XII gave authority to the Treasury Department and the United States Mint to change the composition of nickels to 50% silver and 50% copper. So, the silver nickel years were after this law was passed.
But before implementing this important change in nickel composition, tests and experiments needed to be performed to see if coins made of the proposed composition would work in slot and vending machines that sold refreshments at factories and other locations. It turned out that there was a problem since copper and silver would not set off the mechanical reaction that was necessary for the machines to function without rejecting the coins as counterfeit.
It turned out that adding a small amount of manganese did the trick and allowed coins made of copper and silver to work in the machines. Since the law had given flexibility with respect to the composition of the new coins, officials decided that they would be made of an alloy that combined 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese.
To help consumers distinguish the new silver nickels from the existing ones, a mint mark was placed above the dome of Monticello of the reverse of the coin. This included “P” mint marks for the Philadelphia Mint – something that had never been done before. This was especially important in 1942 when both types of nickels were made.
In 1942 regular nickels were already being produced and continued to be made at the mints in Philadelphia and Denver through the end of the summer. From October 8, 1942, the new nickels that included silver began to be struck at only the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints.
Then from 1943 through 1945, the silver alloy nickels were made at all three branches of the U.S. Mint, continuing until December 1945. Production peaked in 1943 when over 270 million nickels were made just at the Philadelphia Mint. In 1946 production of regular alloy nickels resumed.
The appearance of these war-time nickels as they are known is also different from other U.S. nickels. When they are new and still in mint state condition that have a “dazzling silver brilliance” and their details are very sharp, according to Q. David Bowers.
But as they become worn, they become dull gray and much less attractive. And because of the presence of manganese in the nickels, they also often have a greasy feel to them.
The amount of silver in the war-time nickels is pretty small. Factoring in the weight and purity, it amounts to 0.05626 ounces of silver per coin. At today’s spot silver of about $23 per ounce, that amounts to about $1.30 of silver per nickel.
Currently, MS60 examples are worth $6 to $8 for most of these nickels with 1944-S worth $10. Even in MS65 all are valued under $100, and only MS66 and MS67 examples are really scarce and valuable with some worth many thousands of dollars.
There are also three major errors, including 1943-P, 3 over 2 that is worth $135 in XF40, $325 in MS60, $600 in MS65 and $1,850 in MS68. Then there is 1943 with doubling especially on the eye that starts at $57 in XF40 and is worth thousands in high grades with full steps. Finally, there is 1945-P doubled die reverse. It starts out at $52 in XF40, reaches several hundred in lower mint state and a maximum of $20,000 in MS66 with full steps – the highest grade for that one.
With the benefit of the work of historians and numismatists, today we have reason to believe that while the issuance of silver nickels from late 1942 to the end of 1945 did help the war effort, it may not have been as critical as believed at that time.
That is because, as Mark Benvenuto explained in 2000 in The Numismatist, data suggests that a total of about 827,163 pounds of nickel may have been saved by the change to the different alloy. Yet that amount was not very significant statistically since the annual output of nickel produced in the U.S. at the time was around 300 million pounds.
Benvenuto suggests that the real reason for the war-time nickels might instead have been designed as a morale booster for the average American who could look at the nickels he received in change, note the mint mark on the reverse and the different color of the coins, and be reminded that everyone including the U.S. Mint was doing its part to help win the war.
For collectors silver wartime nickels remain popular items to this day. They can be collected at different levels with some interested in rolls of them in circulated condition others looking for a full set of all dates and mint marks in MS63. Still others collect individual dates in high grades.
Sources:
Q. David Bowers, A Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels (Whitman, 2017)