1943 P Jefferson war nickel with much more silver

As I said earlier, I only have this one war nickel, but I’ve had other coins tested and they’ve always been spot on.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

War nickels are cheap, pick up a couple and test them side by side with the one in question.

 

As am I.

 

Agreed - try the machine on other known silver-containing coins, i.e. 40% Kennedy half (1965-1970) (don't know how it would analyze a clad coin) or 80% Canadian dime or quarter (pre-1967) - if those check out, then your anomalous nickel may be the real deal.

 

The odds on this nickel not being 35% is almost zero.

 

It is impossible, in this case, to have just one however it has not been impossible to find the first one after a good stint of time and have others follow. Sometimes people just don't check as thoroughly as we think and years go by before someone has something. I think if you do your due diligence and investigate like everyone here is suggesting and you can still prove what you state then it's time to send it in to the experts. Nothing wrong with that. Surely the OP will go through it all since if he has what he says he has, it would be a great discovery piece, for sure! Best of luck!

 

You can say that again!

 

I said almost zero, because while I agree a "discovery piece" is possible, it is highly unlikely. They would have had to made a mistake with a whole batch when they were mixing, and melting this alloy. And for no one to discover that a coin was higher in silver (different patina) is almost impossible after 75 years.

 

I’m doing what I can to solve this - asking for help, stating the facts, and doing my homework. I’m new to collecting, but I’m also an experienced RN used to doing all of that and handle criticism along the way.

Thanks for sending positive vibes! I’ll keep you updated.

 

Welcome to Coin Talk. IMO your best response is to buy a few War nickels and have them tested. Then post the results. This will put the topic to bed.

 

The 40% is net (by weight), from two layers of 80% silver/20% copper bonded to a pure copper core.

 

Just to clarify, the inner core is 20.9%Ag/79.1%Cu, but you made an excellent point. You won't get a 40% Ag reading for a 1965-1970 half

 

Yes the 40% is not a copper core.
You can tell that by looking at the edge.

 

From Wikipedia for Ike dollars:

"Composition Circulation strikes: outer layers of 75.0% copper 25.0% nickel clad with a core of 100% copper (in all 91.67% copper, 8.33% nickel).
For silver clad: Outer layers of 80% silver with a center of 20.9% silver. Aggregate 60% copper, 40% silver"