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Jefferson nickels and the 35% silver war nickels
Jefferson nickels start in 1938. Most are copper-nickel face value. Mid-1942 through 1945 war nickels are 35% silver — look for the large mint mark above Monticello. 1950-D is a collected date. A Buffalo is a different coin.
A Jefferson nickel is the five-cent piece with Jefferson and Monticello, first struck in 1938. Felix Schlag won the contest. Ordinary years are copper-nickel. They are face value in a shop buy unless the date is collected.
War nickels
From mid-1942 through 1945 the Mint took nickel out for the war and used 35% silver (with copper and manganese). Those we weigh. The tell is a large mint mark above Monticello — P, D, or S. 1942-P is the first time Philadelphia put a P on a US coin. Early 1942 nickels without the big mark are regular copper-nickel. 90% vs 40% vs war nickels.
A magnet does not stick to a war nickel. It is not a 1943 steel cent.
Common vs the ones we pull
War nickels: silver bid. 1939-D, 1939-S, 1950-D are the collector dates people have heard of. 1950-D was saved in quantity — better than a 1964, not a 1913 Liberty. Westward Journey (2004–2005) and later designs are still nickels.
Extra history
Jefferson replaced the Buffalo. The war alloy is why a 1943-P nickel is a silver coin and a 1943 Buffalo is not a thing. Emergency money.
What a shop pays
A coffee can of 1960s Jeffersons: face, or a little over by the pound if you insist. War nickels out of that can: silver. Face-value jars.
People also ask
Are all old nickels silver? No. Only the war ones (and not Buffalos, not V nickels).
Is a 1942 nickel always silver? No. Only the ones with the large mint mark above the building.
Is 1950-D a fortune? It is a collected date. It is not a 1918/7-D Buffalo.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.
A jar labeled “silver nickels” is usually mixed Jeffersons. We dump it and pick the large-mint-mark 1942–1945 coins. The rest stay face.
1943-P, 1943-D, 1943-S, 1944, and 1945 war nickels are the common silver ones. 1942-P with the large P is silver; 1942 no-letter or small D/S on the reverse (Monticello side, not above the dome) is the old alloy.
Do not clean the gray film off a war nickel with foil and baking soda. You will make a worse coin. Don’t clean.