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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,651 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
I have heard and read a lot about Nickels containing 35% silver in the years 1942-1945. Sadly it is not true and I have proof from the U.S. Mint that it is not true. I read the following in the FAQ section of the U.S. Mints web site. Quote:
Why do some coins have grooves on the edges and why are they there?
The dollar, half-dollar, quarter, and 10-cent coin (dime) denominations were originally produced from precious metals (gold and silver). Reeded edges were eventually incorporated into the design of these denominations to deter counterfeiting and fraudulent use of the coins, for example, filing down the edges in an attempt to recover the precious metals.
The one-cent (penny) and five-cent pieces (nickels) are considered "minor" coins of the United States and have never contained precious metals.
Currently, none of the coins produced for circulation contain precious metals. However, the continued use of reeded edges on current circulating coinage of larger denominations is useful to the visually impaired. For example, the 10-cent (dime) and one-cent coins are similar in size; the reeding of the dime makes it easily identifiable by touch. So now that a large majority of you U.S. collectors have fallen for such fraud and paid a hefty premium thinking that these nickles were silver, don't fret because I am here to save the day. I will help you recoup some of your money and offer to pay you 15 cents each for these fraudulent coins. I know, I know, it is a very kind gesture indeed, but that is just how I roll  . But seriously, I sent them an email letting them know of this error and hopefully they will fix it and show that the 1942(for a portion of that year) - 1945 did indeed contain 35% or approximately 1.75 grams of silver and how people can identify these by the mint mark location. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5202 Posts |
HA! Quote:
Reeded edges were eventually incorporated into the design of these denominations to deter counterfeiting and fraudulent use of the coins, for example, filing down the edges in an attempt to recover the precious metals. That is what I always thought and glad the mint confirmed it but since they just shot themselves in their foot saying nickels had no precious metals takes away all street cred on this one  |
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Pillar of the Community
Puerto Rico
778 Posts |
Tim I have a lot of War Nickels to sell but I think that your offer of 15 cents each is unfair. How about 16 cents each?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1358 Posts |
And they appear to have disowned the half-dime as ever being a "precious" child of the mint.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2661 Posts |
Quote:
And they appear to have disowned the half-dime as ever being a "precious" child of the mint. They do mention the Half Dime in another section of the FAQ page, just not in the one from my original post: Quote:Why is the one-cent coin (the penny) larger than the ten-cent coin (the dime)? What determines the sizes of our coins?The sizes of United States coins can help you to identify each one, but have nothing to do with their value. The first U.S. five-cent coins (nickels) were made of silver, and were smaller than the ten-cent coins (dimes) in circulation today. You may be interested to know that our coinage system, to a certain extent, has grown out of custom or, in other words, out of daily use. When United States coins were first produced in 1793, our standard coin was the silver dollar. The United States Mint produced the rest of our coins (except the one-cent coin) in a proportionate metallic content to the dollar, with the sizes regulated accordingly. The half-dime (or five-cent denomination) had 1/20th the amount of silver contained in the dollar. Our 10-cent coin contained 1/10th the amount of silver, the quarter-dollar coin (the quarter) contained 1/4th the amount, and the half-dollar coin contained 1/2 the amount. Mint officials recognized the need for a larger five-cent coin because the half-dime was exactly half the size of the dime. This proved to be too small for convenient handling by the public. Adoption of the five-cent coin as we know it today occurred in 1866. The Mint increased the coin's size and changed its metallic content from silver and copper to a combination of copper and nickel. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12815 Posts |
And in that section, they contradict themselves several times from the first excerpt you posted: Quote:
The first U.S. five-cent coins (nickels) were made of silver... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4901 Posts |
So why is the melt at $1.07? Sentimental value?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2824 Posts |
They call a Cent; a Penny -- I thought we won the war....
Edited by OcalaFlorida
09/03/2014 07:36 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
Those entries are wrong in so many ways, it's impossible to count. Let me pick ONE: The Half Dime was not half the SIZE of the Dime, it was half the MASS. Oh, and in 1853 when the silver content of the minor coins was reduced, the dollar coin wasn't (the arrows at the date denoted the reduced silver content). So the proportions were no longer correct. Let's see, there was the illegal silver content in the 1790s when it was thought too hard (or some such) to conform to the law so the mint issued coins with a different fineness. -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2563 Posts |
I think someone was tired when they wrote this.
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New Member
United States
13 Posts |
The nickel was not invented because the Half Dime was too small, It was made to redeem fractional currency on the cheap. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12815 Posts |
They should have run it by us before posting.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:The nickel was not invented because the Half Dime was too small, It was made to redeem fractional currency on the cheap. Actually it was made because the silver Half Dime had disappeared from circulation. The base metal coin with a face value well above it's intrinsic value would stay in circulation. The coppernnickel five cent piece was considered to be a temporary measure and that is due time it would be retired and the Half Dime would resume. They did want to be able to redeem the fractional currency on the cheap and in the late 1860 they experimented with under weight and lower fineness patterns for a series of coins to be used for fractional currency redemption. these were the "STANDARD SILVER" patterns of 1869 and the other alloys used that year. |
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New Member
United States
13 Posts |
I find it rather interesting and amusing that "STANDARD SILVER" does not have the same meaning as used in the later term of Standard Silver Dollar. I remember the tags on the bags of silver dollars - "1000 SSD".
I left out an earlier step on my previous post. I should have added - "Paper currency drove the silver coinage out of circulation."
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Everyone's wrong. All US coins are really made of Plastic but plated with metals. They just used heavy plastic so no one would know by weighing them. The heavy plastic was made with what is called Heavy Water. If you don't think this is true, just take any coin and heat it with a Arc Welder's Torch.  And yes, they really are PENNIES. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,651 |
Posted 09/02/2014 9:20 pm
