1943 P Jefferson Nickel 0

[MadMike519]

Help, I'm confused about the transitional jefferson nickel starting in 1942 to 1944, what are they made of percentage wise pre-1942 and what was the copper content on the alleged copper planchet or just some copper within during that transition period? That were NOT supposed to be....Thanks for any specific info...

[Just Bob]

Welcome to the forum.

I am not familiar with "transitional" nickels, but I can give you the composition of pre- and post-war nickels and wartime (1942-1945) nickels:

A normal nickel is made of .750 copper and .250 nickel. During the war, when nickel was needed for the war effort, the composition was changed to .560 copper, .350 silver. and .090 manganese. These are easy to recognize by the large mint mark over the top of Monticello.

If one was struck on a copper planchet, it would have to be on a cent planchet, or a bronze or brass planchet made for one of the foreign countries for which the US mints were producing coins.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Just Bob

[MadMike519]

Thanks Just Bob, So if a coin has .750 copper in the years 1942/1943/1944 then they are a transitional mistake? I'm guessing they are and thanks for the info. I'm also thinking if I have them xrayed/spectrometried  and see if their amounts of copper are more than .560 then I'm sure that they'll be the mistakes andor different planchets...Peace

[Just Bob]

There are some 1942 nickels that were made of copper-nickel, before the change to silver. These can be recognized by either no mint mark, or a small mint mark to the right of Monticello, just like pre- and post-war nickels. If there is a large mint mark over Monticello, it should be the copper/silver composition. Unfortunately, you can't tell the difference by weight, since both compositions weigh the same. Either a specific gravity test, or having the metal composition tested, would be the way to tell the difference.

[VKurtB]

22 hours ago, Just Bob said:

There are some 1942 nickels that were made of copper-nickel, before the change to silver. These can be recognized by either no mint mark, or a small mint mark to the right of Monticello, just like pre- and post-war nickels. If there is a large mint mark over Monticello, it should be the copper/silver composition. Unfortunately, you can't tell the difference by weight, since both compositions weigh the same. Either a specific gravity test, or having the metal composition tested, would be the way to tell the difference.

Nope. Same weight and same size equals same specific gravity. Metal comp testing is all there is. How deep does XRF go? Can it even detect heavier plating jobs?

[Just Bob]

According to the Coin World Almanac, Eighth Edition, the specific gravity of a copper nickel 5 cent is 8.92, while the specific gravity of a wartime alloy nickel is 9.25. If that is in error, then I stand corrected.

[VKurtB]

2 hours ago, Just Bob said:

According to the Coin World Almanac, Eighth Edition, the specific gravity of a copper nickel 5 cent is 8.92, while the specific gravity of a wartime alloy nickel is 9.25. If that is in error, then I stand corrected.

If true, given that both types weigh 5.00 g., the wartime pieces would have to be some 3.7% smaller by volume. Diameter seems to be out of the question, leaving thickness the only remaining opportunity. Interesting.

Edited September 3, 2019 by VKurtB