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Nickels, Silver Elongated Nickels!
Made from War-time Alloy Silver
© 2007 ParkPennies.com

  
Silver War Nickels
The Silver Nickel collector card above reads..

"DURING THE EARLY MONTHS OF WORLD WAR II THE CRITICAL NEED FOR NICKEL   AND  COPPER  REQUIRED  THE  TREASURY  DEPT.  TO  SUBSTITUTE  OTHER  METALS  FOR  THE  SCARCE ELEMENTS. ON OC- TOBER 8, 1942 THE NEW NICKELS COMPOSED OF 56% COPPER, 35% SILVER, AND 9% MANGANESE WERE  RELEASED.  THESE "SILVER NICKELS"  WERE  ISSUED  UNTIL THE OLD COMPOSITION OF 75% COP- PER AND 25% NICKEL WAS REVIVED IN 1946."
Nickels, silver wartime
Silver nickels are easy to attribute, just look for the large mintmark letter above the capital dome.
(Click the images to zoom)



Seems a shame to run these silver nickels through a "penny press", but, they can look soooo nice!

elongated sliver war nickel
The image doesn't do this elongated sliver war nickel justice.
The surface tone is much like polished sterling silver.


Elongated Silver War Nickels


Avid collectors of elongated nickels, as numismatists call them, sometimes like to press silver war-time nickels. They are "harder" than non-war-time silver alloy nickels, however, they are made from an alloy of about 56% copper, 35% silver and about 9% manganese. (Yes, I know, like it says in the picture!)

Silver nickels are really part silver, so an elongated "silver nickel" can be a thing of extra beauty and worth the extra effort. If there is adequate pressure for the nickel press machine to roll the harder alloy silver nickel to full length, the result can be an excellent elongated coin. Often, when polished, a war time silver nickel can look much like it's sterling silver. True, you probably won't find many silver nickels in your pocket change, but, for a special elongated coin, especially one used for a necklace pendent, a trip to the local coin shop may be worth it. smile!

If you are a regular reader of ParkPennies.com, I need not mention that elongated nickels, are one of this author's favorite pressed coins. And we have not overlooked pressed nickel images. Matter of fact, some pages here are dedicated just to Disneyland elongated nickels like this group of Disneyland elongated seasonal nickels or this page of Disneyland Elongated Nickels. Do take a look at them, maybe they will become one of you favorites too?

Proposed changes for nickels and pennies Proposed Governmental Changes for nickels and pennies

"The Nickle"

Is it NICKLE or NICKEL? If you are like me, it's easy to forget. Here is an except from the ParkPennies.com Frequently Asked Questions:

Nickle, a miss-spelling of nickel, the US five-cent piece. A word seen all too often on nickel press machine marquees and signs. Also a word that drives even this English-challenged writer crazy! smilycrzy.gif - 725 Bytes

From www.Dictionary.com
nickle
\Nic"kle\, n. (Zo["o]l.) The European woodpecker, or yaffle; -- called also nicker pecker.

If you see a "penny" press with the word "Nickle" on the marquee, watch out! There could be a yaffle or nicker pecker nearby! smile!


Related:
All Disneyland Elongated Nickels Guide All Disneyland Elongated Nickels Guide
All Disneyland Seasonal Elongated Nickels Details All Disneyland Seasonal Elongated Nickels Details
Seasonal Nickel images, single page Seasonal Nickel images, single page
Penny Types Penny Types