Confused about this coin!! Please help!!

[Kk77]

So I found this 1943 war nickel a while back ,I know war nickels are made of silver, so the thing I'm confused about is why this one is so corroded.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[NHBandit]

Short answer.. The Silver content was much lower than other Silver coins.

 

[fyrffytr1]

It is 35% silver, 56% copper and 9% manganese. The copper content is probably responsible for the corroded look of your coin.

 

[ivan salis]

tarnished -- silver can tarnish (blacken) easily in acidic ground -- war nickles are 35 silver by weight

 

[Slingshot]

Might be silver, just heavily corroded by the soil or water it was in, could be a strike on the wrong metal by the mint which would be a very $$$$ nickel, or could be a counterfeit coin. If you have a detector with VDI you can compare readings with a normal nickel and a silver nickel. For a definitive answer you will probably have to send it off to be looked at by one of the coin businesses that will ascertain whether it is something rare or not, but of course you should exhaust all your other avenues of discovery before doing that as it will cost you some $.

 

[Kk77]

Thanks for the info guys helped a lot!!

 

[NHBandit]

Here's something that's always been a head scratcher for me.. Like to hear the various theories as to why. They needed Nickle for the war effort so they used a large percentage of Copper and some Silver to make the nickles. But.. They needed Copper for the war as well so they made the cents out of Steel.... Seems like they could have saved alot of screwing around by leaving the cents alone and making Steel nickles..

 

[Slingshot]

Nickel was used in the alloy for full metal jacketed bullets, which were expended by the billions, also stainless steel was needed in unprecedented amounts for everything from canteen cups, to skin metal for aircraft, and nickel is the metal that alloys with steel to produce stainless. Most people today are unaware of what a titantic struggle that war was, a Sherman tank took 67,000 pounds, 33 tons, of steel to produce one tank, and we built enough of these that if lined up bumper to bumper they would make a solid line from Chicago to New York, that's a lot of steel. How many aircraft, ships, artillery pieces, small arms, helmets by the millions, jeeps, half tracks, knives, bayonets, buttons, belt buckles, ball bearings, bombs, torpedoes, and artillery shells by the millions. They needed the nickel for the war and decided to make the 5c coin from silver, which they figured they could retrieve after the war was over, because they needed all the steel they could get for the war.
We lost over 420,000 men killed in 3 3/4 years as compared to Viet-Nam with 52,000 men KIA in 10 years. Nam was Hell, and WWII was HELL ON WHEELS!!

 

[NHBandit]

Nickel was used in the alloy for full metal jacketed bullets, which were expended by the billions, also stainless steel was needed in unprecedented amounts for everything from canteen cups, to skin metal for aircraft, and nickel is the metal that alloys with steel to produce stainless. Most people today are unaware of what a titantic struggle that war was, a Sherman tank took 67,000 pounds, 33 tons, of steel to produce one tank, and we built enough of these that if lined up bumper to bumper they would make a solid line from Chicago to New York, that's a lot of steel. How many aircraft, ships, artillery pieces, small arms, helmets by the millions, jeeps, half tracks, knives, bayonets, buttons, belt buckles, ball bearings, bombs, torpedoes, and artillery shells by the millions. They needed the nickel for the war and decided to make the 5c coin from silver, which they figured they could retrieve after the war was over, because they needed all the steel they could get for the war.
We lost over 420,000 men killed in 3 3/4 years as compared to Viet-Nam with 52,000 men KIA in 10 years. Nam was Hell, and WWII was HELL ON WHEELS!!

Great info but you missed my point. Let me simplify it... They made cents out of steel because they needed the Copper. So why did they use Copper in the nickles ?

 

[fyrffytr1]

Maybe they needed the copper just to replace the nickel in the 5 cent piece. So they made steel pennies to free up copper for the nickel?

 

[Slingshot]

Yeah, I got off track on your original question and after reflection - I have no idea! Good question! Cheers!!

 

[cudamark]

So I found this 1943 war nickel a while back ,I know war nickels are made of silver, so the thing I'm confused about is why this one is so corroded.
View attachment 1114051
View attachment 1114052

Place the coin in the end of an aluminum can. Add vinegar to cover the coin and let it soak overnight. Remove the coin the next morning and rub it with baking soda. Rinse with fresh water and inspect. I should be much better looking now!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The steel/copper/nickel mixes have to do with timing.

Nickel is important for metal plating and US doesn't have much naturally occurring - so in 1942 that become a war commodity. Copper we did have a bunch of at that time, but in 1943 the cent went to zinc-steel as we shifted our supplies and needs met the ramped-up production. In 1944 the US started making cents out of re-melted fired brass casings and copper; so it was only one year the cent was messed with (though there are 1943 copper and 1944 steel and a bunch of counterfeits because they're both uber rare - maybe a dozen of either known). Nickels were silver alloy for four years.