1942 nickel no mint.

One with no mint has no silver content. Although silver nickels are common to have lam errors. This one I found had a lam error. The whole nickel has that soft appearance and had the look of it being silver. I took a regular silver nickel has the lighter ding to it and so does this 1942 no mint nickel. I have no way of seeing the what type of silver content it has or even if it doesn't have. How could I prove it has or doesn't have silver without a metal detector stateing what metals it has?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

FYI - 1942 No Mint Mark was Minted at the Philadelphia Mint
With no silver content -

 

Or are you telling us that you think it has silver?

 

Oh boy, not this can of worms again....
If you think it is silver, take it to a pawn shop with an XRF gun. They’ll be able to tell you but I’ll warn you now, you probably don’t have an error.

 

I know it's probably not. But all I'm asking is how to tell other than dropping the coin. It just has that look of a silver nickel. I know the 1942 pre war nickel Is not silver. I was saying it had the appearance of silver. And how too tell. That is all. That's why I'm not in error coins I'm in coin chat.

 

No need to have that type of comment. I don't want to take it to a coin shop. Not trying to make money. And loose money while doing so. So what if it's not an error. I'm gladly to check for myself. Looks silver that's why I'm asking how to do it yourself way.

 

But it has a lam error. Another reason why I asked this question.

 

The Specific Gravity Test
These next 4 tests are highly accurate in determining real vs. fake. The specific gravity test of silver is basically a ratio of densities and due to its chemical & composition makeup should equal ~ 10.49, given by the formula below:

This test will weed out those silver-plated or clad coins if they have a composition of some other base metal. You cannot change the density of metal and pure silver will always give a reading close to 10.49. To calculate this perform the steps below:

1. Obtain dry weight of the silver coin or bar with an accurate scale to .01g
2. Use a cup of water enough to fully submerge the silver into and measure its weight or reset the scale with it on.
3. Tie some string around the coin and setup an apparatus to hold the coin
4. Submerge the silver into the water and record the submerged weight minus the weight of the water & cup.
5. Divide the dry weight by the submerged weight to obtain the specific gravity of silver

This sounds official!

 

We never did hear back about that did we? lol

 

Not Shrews. She is to sharp for that. She was just expecting the large mintmark above Monticello is all.

 

Right I'm not going to say I actually have something without even having a clue what I have. Better be asking and reading and studying without arguing when you don't even know yourself. I'm not like that. That person had no idea what he/she had just wanted to argue Cause they knew they were wrong all along.

 

Single ply tissue test. Hold tissue in front of coin, if you see a dark circle it's not silver. If it looks white, there's silver in that there coin.

 

I do have a simple “home remedy” answer for you..... Shrews, you ever heard of the tissue test? It’s unbelievably simple and will surprise when you do it....... Take a known silver coin and a known clad or nickel coin and lay them side by side. Take an ordinary every day tissue and lay it over both coins. You will see quickly that the silver coin shows much brighter through the tissue. It’s uncanny. Try it and you will see what I mean...... It’s certainly not a conclusive test by any stretch. But as home remedies go, it’s pretty darned good!

 

Sorry! We were thinking the same thing at the same time!

 

Maybe be for it's all said, and done our YN is going to be right up there with Potter, Wexler, Flynn, Wiles,etc.... and breaking the old boys club by being the first Female!
Kind of a big deal....you betcha

 

Ok I might be doing it wrong. My silver nickels are showing up black cause they are already dark the regular 1960 nickel is showing up bright. What type of tissue? Toilet tissue? Kleenex? Wrapping tissue? What's the best tissue?

 

It's not silver.
If they made the silver nickels in 1942 at Philly AFTER they made the regular ones. (Which is the logical progression.)
They would have to have used the old reverse dies which would have resulted in many of these silver no mint mark coins, which I am not sure but think there are zero of them. I assume the P was permanently punched into the working dies.
There are some silver 1946's I believe.

 

Okay this is what it gave me. Two 1943 the 1942 And a 1960. So I did a tissue test. Went totaly backwards for me lol. But yes the 1942 cant be silver I know. Had a strange look to me though. TTACH]

 

Do you have a silver coin? Like a quarter or other ? If so take a 1 ply kleenx and place it over along with another non silver coin. See the difference?

 

Very often silver will have a certain patina (the 90% ones) and you can tell immediately if a Roosevelt dime is 1964 or before/ or after.
The War nickels are tough because they are 35% silver and while the silver is not the dominant part of the alloy, they have a distinct patina.
The 1942 may have a silvery look to it, but it doesn't have a war nickel look to it.