NEW HENNING NICKEL DATE DISCOVERY!

[Bad Wolf]

OK, so here’s the deal; I am as certain as I can be that I have found a 1945 Henning nickel, i.e., a counterfeit Jefferson nickel made by Francis Leroy Henning.

As many of you may know, the only dates attributed to Henning as “genuine counterfeits” are from the years 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953, of which the 1944 has been the easiest to find and validate because of the omission of the mint mark above the dome on the reverse. Well, this one is a 1945 with no mint mark above the dome, which also has the same worn look as all of Henning‘s other nickels. And though there are no other markers I can find, no “EN” mark or looped R in PLURIBUS or reverse die break, it does have a small dot above the dome at about 1 o’clock (dots being indicative of counterfeit coins) and weighs in at just 4.83 grams. I’ve been a fan of Henning nickels ever since I bought my first 1944 several years ago for just 40 bucks, which seemed like a lot at the time. Since then, I’ve been learning everything I can about Henning and his exploits, reading articles, watching videos and following chat groups, and I’ve been passively looking for them in all the usual places for several years. Ironically, I decided to increase my hunting efforts just last week, and so I

was quite pleased to say the least when I discovered this 1945!

in any case, I‘m hoping that those of you who are Henning experts will take a look at these photos and give me your opinions, and hopefully, your validations! Looking forward to your replies!

 

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[Gulf Coast Pirate]

He said he made six dies, maybe it was 1945....

 

[DownEast_Detecting]

That looks pretty worn to me. you sure the mint mark hasnt worn off? have you look at it under a microscope?

"Regarding Henning, though, according to an article in Coin World August 28, 1968, p. 33, Henning is known to have made dies with five different dates: 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, and 1953. (He was afraid that tellers might become suspicious if all the deposits he brought in had the same date.) No 1945 is known. "

 

[Coinstar magnet]

OK, so here’s the deal; I am as certain as I can be that I have found a 1945 Henning nickel, i.e., a counterfeit Jefferson nickel made by Francis Leroy Henning.

As many of you may know, the only dates attributed to Henning as “genuine counterfeits” are from the years 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953, of which the 1944 has been the easiest to find and validate because of the omission of the mint mark above the dome on the reverse. Well, this one is a 1945 with no mint mark above the dome, which also has the same worn look as all of Henning‘s other nickels. And though there are no other markers I can find, no “EN” mark or looped R in PLURIBUS or reverse die break, it does have a small dot above the dome at about 1 o’clock (dots being indicative of counterfeit coins) and weighs in at just 4.83 grams. I’ve been a fan of Henning nickels ever since I bought my first 1944 several years ago for just 40 bucks, which seemed like a lot at the time. Since then, I’ve been learning everything I can about Henning and his exploits, reading articles, watching videos and following chat groups, and I’ve been passively looking for them in all the usual places for several years. Ironically, I decided to increase my hunting efforts just last week, and so I View attachment 2096993View attachment 2096991View attachment 2096992View attachment 2096993View attachment 2096994was quite pleased to say the least when I discovered this 1945!
View attachment 2096991
in any case, I‘m hoping that those of you who are Henning experts will take a look at these photos and give me your opinions, and hopefully, your validations! Looking forward to your replies!

Fascinating, I didn't know there were counterfeit nickels for those years... I'll pay closer attention when coin roll hunting. Great find!

 

[Coinstar magnet]

That looks pretty worn to me. you sure the mint mark hasnt worn off? have you look at it under a microscope?

"Regarding Henning, though, according to an article in Coin World August 28, 1968, p. 33, Henning is known to have made dies with five different dates: 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, and 1953. (He was afraid that tellers might become suspicious if all the deposits he brought in had the same date.) No 1945 is known. "

Fascinating...

 

[Bad Wolf]

That looks pretty worn to me. you sure the mint mark hasnt worn off? have you look at it under a microscope?

"Regarding Henning, though, according to an article in Coin World August 28, 1968, p. 33, Henning is known to have made dies with five different dates: 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, and 1953. (He was afraid that tellers might become suspicious if all the deposits he brought in had the same date.) No 1945 is known. "

Thanks for your feedback, Downeast. I’ll have a microscope view shortly, and I’ll be sure to post them.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Thank you, CS Magnet.

 

[Bad Wolf]

He said he made six dies, maybe it was 1945....

It’s looking like a distinct possibility at the very least. Please keep your fingers crossed.

 

[sprailroad]

Never knew about any of that. I have "war" nickels, and all have the large mintmark above the dome.

 

[Coinstar magnet]

Thank you, CS Magnet.

Thank you Bad Wolf... I'm going to go back and check all of my coin roll nickels for a Henning...I wonder how many he counterfeited...

 

[ToddsPoint]

All the hennings I read about were over 5 grams. Yours is under 5. I think you need to send your nickel to PCGS or NGC and get it checked out.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A great find !
I never heard of them till your post - very interesting !

 

[creskol]

There is discussion on a 1945 Henning Nickel on the Coin Community Forum

1945 Henning Nickel? - Coin Community Forum

1945 Henning Nickel? - Coin Community Forum

www.coincommunity.com

(Hope I didn't break any rules by linking to another forum )

 

[Bad Wolf]

Never knew about any of that. I have "war" nickels, and all have the large mintmark above the dome.

Yes, it’s a very interesting story and would make a great movie, In my opinion!

 

[Bad Wolf]

All the hennings I read about were over 5 grams. Yours is under 5. I think you need to send your nickel to PCGS or NGC and get it checked out.

Yes, I read that too in an earlier report. It’s been determined since then that many are underweight as well, in the 4.7 to 4.8 g range. And I may very well send it in to be authenticated…

 

[Bad Wolf]

There is discussion on a 1945 Henning Nickel on the Coin Community Forum

1945 Henning Nickel? - Coin Community Forum

1945 Henning Nickel? - Coin Community Forum

www.coincommunity.com

(Hope I didn't break any rules by linking to another forum )

Thanks for the heads up, Creskol!

 

[PetesPockets55]

It will be interesting to see where this goes.
I just linked this thread to an ongoing thread on the CoinCommunityForum.

Some well-known Henning nickel specialists are bound to see this.

 

[nickndfl]

The letters look too tall and fake to me.

 

[xr7ator]

My guess is it's an authentic 1945 war nickel made of 35% silver and had a bad mint mark because of greased die or?

 

[nickndfl]

I had 2 hard ciders for lunch, so my perception might be off?