WW 2 nickels can be identified by the large mint mark over the dome of Monticello on the reverse. Until very recent times, the WW 2 nickels were the only US coins bearing a mint mark from the Philadelphia mint. So if it has a large mint mark over Monticello, its a wartime issue coin. The RED BOOK indicates that pre-war composition nickels with 1942 through 1945 dates are known to exist. I'll bet they are worth quite a bit since they would have been mint errors.
Wartime nickels would show up in change when I was a kid, but I'll bet it has been almost 50 years since I found one in circulation.
Wartime nickels would show up in change when I was a kid, but I'll bet it has been almost 50 years since I found one in circulation.
I found this 1942-S nickel down at North Myrtle Beach, S.C. the other weekend and didn't realize it until I put the coins and the counter and notice the nickel with the S mint mark. When I saw the mint mark over the dome I knew it was a war nickel. Boy was I surprised. It's unusal to find a war nickel especially at the beach. I did find some coin back in a real deep cut up towards a hotel. That must be where I found it, because there was a nickel in the group of coins. War nickel were minted from 1942 to 1945 at all 3 mints. Originally its content was 75% copper and 25% nickel. Due to a shortage of nickel during WWII because of its use in military production, this metal was entirely removed from the coin in 1942 and substituted with a composition of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese. Thats why the war nickel has more value because of the silver but not that much. 1942-1945 the mint mark was considerably enlarged and placed above Monticello's dome.