Silver "War" Nickels 1942 - 1945
Silver "War" nickels were produced by the United States from mid-1942* through 1945. The coins were manufactured from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. This allowed the saved nickel metal to be shifted to industrial production of miltary supplies during World War II. Each war nickel contains 0.0563 troy ounces of silver. If you want to know how much a war nickel is worth you can calculate the value of the silver in a war nickel here.
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The marks are "S" for the San Fransico mint, "D" for the Denver mint and "P' to indicate production at the Philadelphia mint, being the first coin to feature the Philadelphia intial, as no mint mark was the usual designation for Philadelphia mintage before 1979.
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* Note that some 1942 nickels were produced without silver content. These will have a small "D" or "S" mint mark to the right of Monticello on the reverse or in the case of Philadelphia minted coins, no mint mark at all. |
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