silver war nickel

The silver war nickel or the wartime nickel was minted between 1942 and 1945 in the United States. The composition of these coins changed at this point from being 75% copper and 25% nickel to 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. These coins, the Sacawagea and the presidential dollars are the only other United States coins to include manganese in their composition. These nickels are a bit darker in color because of this substance.

These coins feature Monticello's dome on the reverse side of the coin which is where the mintmark is located. The coins were minted at three different locations - Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia - and the mintmarks are the largest on this coin that has ever been placed on a coin for that country. These were also the only coins to have the mintmark in 1979 from Philadelphia. Any other coins at that point that had been minted were left without the marking.

There are eleven coins that make up the regular series in this war nickel but there is also one that was minted in 1943 for 1942 which is quite rare. These can be bought for low prices when they have been circulated. These started to disappear from circulation in the 1960's.