The Silver "Nickels" of 1942 to 1945 -
Under Priced and a Great Buy in Today's Market
by Charles Baker
ronically, the "nickels" of the later half of 1942 to 1945 contain no nickel at
all. These coins contain 35% silver along with manganese and copper. Because
these nickels are twice as large in weight as a silver dime, the nickels
actually contained closer to a dime's worth of silver at the time. Thus, the
government had a large mint mark placed above the dome on the reverse, so that
after the war was over, they could easily recall all the silver nickels and have
these melted for recoining into dimes. Even the Philadelphia mint, which had
never displayed a mintmark on a coin from 1792 to 1942, placed a large "P" on
the reverse, so that the coins could be recalled and melted for their high
bullion value. One old dealer I knew back in the 1970s, Jim Ballard from New
Orleans, once told me he remembered selling over a million such nickels, valued
at $50,000 at the time, to the smelters in the early 1950s. He later recalled
that in 1965, when the price of silver went up, that he and some other dealers
sold several more millions of these to the smelters. In 1980, with the price of
silver around $50 an ounce, these nickels were bringing about $4 each just for
their melt value. Ballard said tens of millions of these silver nickels went to
the smelters from 1979 to 1980, along with hundreds of millions of silver dimes,
quarters and halves. It is estimated that over 90% of all gold coins, silver
dollars and smaller silver coins were melted in the great coin melts of 1918,
1935, 1965 and 1980.
Today, silver nickels coins have a Redbook value of $1 to $2 in circulated
grades, and $6 to $450 each in uncirculated grades. A specialist in Jefferson
nickels from the 1950s to the 1980s, Mr. Ballard estimated that less than 1/20th
of 1% of all silver nickels survived in uncirculated grade, or only about
400,000 survivors. Of these, he further estimated that only 1% of that small
amount exhibit fully struck steps found on Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello,
on the reverse. This means only about 40,000 full step Jefferson nickels are
available, yet, these can be had for about $15 to $500 in Gem BU condition, with
most dates selling for under $40 with full steps. I think his estimates were
quite conservative, because all the grading services combined have only graded a
few hundred silver nickels with full steps, and this includes all years combined!! Clearly, the coins remain way under priced in all grades, considering that
many collectors love displaying the handy little holders that coin-supply
companies make for the sets. It only takes 11 coins to complete the whole set,
not including varieties, and these neat little nickels have an interesting story
to tell about the war, the war effort and the great silver melts afterward.
- Mr. Baker is a former contributor to the Coin Investment Newsletter, Coin News
and is a current contributor to Rare Coin Magazine.
Beverly Hills Coin Club
9903 Santa Monica #951
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
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