1946 Jefferson Nickel On Silver Planchet Value?

I'd enjoy hearing the result of a second alloy check.

For what it's worth, this nickel does not come close to passing the eye test for silver composition.

Yes, there are 1946 nickels struck in error on obsolete wartime silver blanks. These are quite rare however as only a few pieces (4 +) have been authenticated I believe looking quickly. This error was caused by the same event that caused the 1943 copper cent or the 1944 steel cent. That is, the coin was struck on blanks left over from the previous year so consider its not something that you will generally find. But its not a unicorn at least and so you can at minimum send to cheaper anacs, or if you have a NGC/PCGS account its certainly worthwhile for the payoff if you believe it to be the case. If you happen to have access to XRF as mentioned without spending the same amount for grading thats fine as you dont want to use destructive methods. Good luck to you and nick10. Most just dont even know about these and maybe there are more out there if people are looking.

Thanks, Doug.

Thanks for the update which is not conclusive although the XRF is generally known to be accurate if calibrated properly. In the future I would refrain from ever using forms of destructive testing again as this can greatly lower the value of the coin. It works ok for bullion gold/silver and things like jewelry/chains but not good for coins that will be evaluated on its condition. The coin graders do not use destructive testing. I would still submit to check it since the other test came out with silver.

Im going to assume there were silver flakes on it already but it is odd that it showed up twice. I didnt know that was the method they used until they began the second time. Considering the gun already gave the answer I didnt care....Is the gun ever wrong?

as controls, during a given testing session one could also test a known standard alloy and known wartime nickel to see which the uncertain nickel matches most closely