I just came across this nickel in my change from the gas station. It is so shiny it almost looks fake! I tried looking it up but i didn't get very far. Can anyone tell me more about it?
Nice find!!your coin is not fake it has been polished to give it a very shiny appearance but still has around $1.00-$2.00 of silver in it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polishing https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide...&Series=Jefferson-Nickel-Wartime-Silver-Alloy
This coin is silver (35%) and silver is the most reflective metal. Polishing it makes it really shiny (and pretty much negates any numismatic value)
Very nice and shiny! It was plated after some time circulating. I have one. Nickel plated likely Will be slightly magnetic
It's a war nickel!! During WWII the metal nickel was needed to support the war effort, so they changed the composition of the Jefferson nickel. I agree that your coin has been altered so it presents a shiny appearance! May be plated or may be polished. Look at all of the wear and it's obvious it has been in circulation for a long time. There's no way it would have retained that shine after that much handling! Still a nice coin and fun to own!!!
Here ya go Mine is 1942 S slightly magnetic Found searching rolls of nickels from the bank, CRH as we say
Nice find, but as stated above, now that someone has messed with it, it is only worth the silver content, IMHO.
I must have missed something. I thought the 42P nickel was made in the middle of the year with about 50 million with the CuNi and another 50+ million with the silver and no way to tell apart without a "ray gun". Jim
Yes you are partially correct the copper nickel versions have the mint marks on the right side of Monticello and for Philly no mint mark at all.The silver war nickels have the huge mint marks over the dome of Monticello, including Philly.
I just finished give a talk that covered the war nickels to my local club. The large mint mark was added to the design because the mint was planning to withdraw these coins from circulation once World War II was over. The mint mark made it easy to identify these coins which contained 35% silver. The rest of the alloy was 56% copper and 9% manganese. The manganese was added to give the coin enough of a metallic quality so that it could be used in the vending machines of that era. The machines were set up to reject slugs and other counterfeits. And yes, it's hard to believe, but you could buy something worthwhile in those days for a nickel. A bottle of Coke was an example. The wartime nickels were issued from 1942 to 1945. In 1942, the Philadelphia Mint produced five cent pieces with both the copper-nickel alloy and in the wartime alloy. Philadelphia issued these two coins as Proofs, which is why there is a six piece 1942 Proof set. The Denver Mint produced all of its coins in copper-nickel, and the San Francisco Mint made all its coins with the wartime alloy. These coins have long been collected as a subset in the Jefferson Nickel series. Here is a Mint State set that I bought several months ago.
