Copper War Nickels

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Mike Harrington, Feb 25, 2018.

  1. Mike Harrington

    Mike Harrington New Member

    How do you tell if a war nickel is copper?
     
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  3. Burton Strauss III

    Burton Strauss III Brother can you spare a trime? Supporter

    It would be a huge error, struck on a cent planchet and thus very thin and not fully out to the rim.

    1943 War nickels are a silver/manganese alloy
     
  4. Michael K

    Michael K Well-Known Member

    War nickels are 56% copper 35% silver 9% manganese.
     
  5. JCro57

    JCro57 Making Errors Great Again

    Silver-alloy nickels were minted from 1942-1945. However, in 1942, they minted two types: one was a copper alloy, one was a silver alloy. So how can you tell the difference?

    Silver-alloy nickels have either a large "P" or "S" above the Monticello dome as seen below (there was no "D" minted in silver for 1942).

    1945-P-Jefferson-War-Nickel-Reverse.JPG

    Interestingly, there are a few 1944 nickels that are missing the mintmarks above the Monticello; these are counterfeit. But they could also be quite valuable. These could likely be "Henning nickels," named after the man who had counterfeited them. (See photo below and also click the link for my page on coin talk about it)

    0123181738_HDR.jpg

    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/opinions-on-my-self-designed-slides-please.309775/#post-2973821
     
  6. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Do you have an example?
    We can try to help with some pictures if you can.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2018
  7. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Don't forget about the weight also. It would weigh the same as a Cent Planchet.
    3.0 Campared to a 5.0 Nickel.
     
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  8. Jim Palmer Jr

    Jim Palmer Jr New Member

    I have a Bu 1944 p Copper war nickel 5.06 g. And another that 4.87 g. [Edited] KA Bowman collection per Elenore Roosevelt as William P Bowman was a US Army Quartermaster that worked the docks at Delco Remy during WW2.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 14, 2021
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