In minting the 1944 and 1945 V nickels, and again for the regular 5 cent coins of 1951 thru 1954, the RCM used chromium plating on the steel core, and with great success I believe. Those nickels looked great and held up well in circulation over the years. Was chromium plating considered again for the new steel coins? Or has it become too expensive a metal for that? Or perhaps not available in the quantity that the RCM requires? Or even possibly the nickel industry protecting itself as supplier to the RCM? This time, for whatever reason, nickel was selected for the plating on the new steel coins, and I wonder why nickel rather than chromium, as was done on the earlier coins.
