Mint-state 1944 (no "P") Henning Nickel (and now a 1946 Henning also)
dcarr
Posts: 8,631 ✭✭✭✭✭
I recently picked up this example, which is the variety WITHOUT the looped "R".
The Henning nickels are almost unanimously known only in circulated grades.
But despite the rather poor look of this coin, it has absolutely no wear and the surfaces are as-struck.
The original mint luster can be seen around the perimeter of the reverse, especially.
As such, it is interesting to see what these actually looked like, right off the press.
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Comments
what makes you sure it is from Henning?
Great pictures Dan..... Thanks for showing us.... Cheers, RickO
Cool.
The lack of a "P" mintmark. Not all Hennings nickels have the "looped" "R".
not all counterfeit nickels were made by Henning, are there other die markers or letter styles attributed to Henning?
That's the best example I've seen. Here's mine, from the same die without the lopped R:
As a side note, I saw one on eBay a while back with a different date (maybe 1939?)
Went for moon money!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Were these coins struck on pre-war regular composition copper nickel planchets??
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
Interesting look
Fascinating. Never saw one even close to Mint State.
May I suggest that you post a picture of the "Looped R" variety for educational purposes?
Mike Diamond's Error-ref.com has a good article on these with photos of the looped, and non-looped R.
Here are some photos of the looped R from the site. The top is from Mike Diamond and the bottom is from Cameron Leonard.
Of note, there are 6 obverse and 6 reverse dies. Does anyone have a full list of die pairs? Is the 1982 reference by Dwight H. Stuckey still the best reference for these?
The Stuckey reference is very elusive. Probably worth more than the coins!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Nice example in the OP.
I also have a high grade Henning that I will dig out at some point. Mine has a hint of rub and has a bluish toning.
The Stuckey books are indeed worth more than the nickels themselves. I was never able to find one so I a bit if research and tracked down the author. He was kind enough to send me a copy, less than a year before he passed away.
Super nice. Somehow I can imagine you liking that coin!
Cool piece.
Good eye!
I believe they are struck on copper-nickel blanks that Henning produced. I have not tested the alloy, however.
My example is almost exactly 5.0 grams.
Most of these are VF or XF with a few lower. I've got a low end AU somewhere but have never seen one in Unc or slider.
Very cool!
I have not seen a nicer example.
I don't understand the "Die crack from rim into Jefferson's skull" descriptor. Shouldn't that read "Die crack into Monticello" instead of ...into "Jefferson's skull"?
He did not have a foundry, nor rolling or blanking equipment. I was told that he ordered his planchets ready-made from a firm in Canada, which was how the Secret Service tracked him down. They simply asked nickel manufacturers if anybody was ordering 5 gram copper-nickel discs and got his address.
I recall reading that the Hennings were overweight (5.3-5.4 gms??) and that was a diagnostic for ID. Is there additional research out there or do I not have the complete picture?
I also understood that they are normally overweight.
Mine is the Looped R variety and is 5.1 grams.
Nice to see what happens in Mint State when struck with the artificially worn (VF) dies.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Were the dies artificially worn, or were they merely copied from worn coins?
Agree, a strange paradox
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Correct - I meant to say "that Henning had ordered".
Looking at the edge of my example, it is apparent that the blanks were rolled and punched just like any other Mint blank.
When metal is punched from a sheet, the punch die penetrates smoothly for part of the way, and then suddenly breaks through the rest of the way with a "bang". The transition from smooth penetration to rough breakage can be seen on the edge of blanks that have not been struck and have NOT gone through an upset mill (rimming) process.
From the edge of this Henning nickel I can tell some things:
The blank was punched from a sheet.
The blank was NOT run through any upset mill operation.
The "coin" was struck rather softly, such that the edge punching artifacts were not obliterated by the collar die.
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I think that this was the best detail that Henning could get in a die made using a transfer process.
Obviously, he had to use at least two different coins (one for each side) to get a mule with a "1944" date and no mint mark.
I suspect that the source coins had much better detail than his transfer dies captured.
Henning's job of passing these coins as genuine was made easier by the fact that a lot of the US Mint Jefferson Nickels were poorly struck from worn dies. This made it easier for Henning's nickels to fit in with the circulating lot.
This one is a much later die state. Note all the radial erosion lines on the obverse. The reverse does not show the same. So I am guessing that he replaced the reverse die at some point. I believe that my mint-state coin is an early die state.
So while both coins are from the same obverse die, the reverse dies might be different. Both obverses have a marker - a small raised dot of metal between "GOD*WE".
Take a look at my old threads this Henning is also high grade. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/949850/probable-condition-census-1944-no-p-henning-nickel-newp
An acquaintance recently had some inherited coins to sell. It was a very small group consisting mostly of spendable pocket change and some circulated 90% silver coins from the 1940s to 1964.
There were a few nickels in old stapled 2x2 cardboard holders. Nothing much there (circulated late-date bison nickels, etc.).
EXCEPT one Jefferson nickel had this old writing on the holder (and nothing else): "Con. Nickel". I assume that meant "counterfeit nickel".
The front of the coin was 1946. I checked the back and it had the looped "R". So somebody, way back when, correctly recognized this as a counterfeit nickel.
I made an offer on the silver and the 1946 Henning nickel. The offer was accepted.
Upon studying this coin more closely, I noticed something. Earlier in this thread there is a picture of a looped-"R" coin that has a significant die crack running from the "US" of PLURIBUS to the Monticello dome. This coin I just acquired does not have that die crack. But it does have a small rim cud die break above the second "U" of UNUM. None of the looped-"R" coins with die break that I have seen (or any other Henning nickels that I have seen) appear to have the rim cud. So this implies that there is more than one looped-"R" die that Henning used. The reverse die of this new coin also has an artifact inside the "O" in OF (looks like an inside-out "Q").
The obverse of my 1946 Henning is fairly well struck, but the reverse is very weakly struck in the areas opposite Jefferson's head. Regardless, this coin is fairly close to mint state. The obverse shows all the original surface texture of the die.
Photos not showing up.
Thanks to everyone's knowledge and input, in a weird way it's good that Henning jumped in to his crime with both feet. I think there's more examples out there to be found. The hunt continues. Peace Roy
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If Henning had not made the mistake with the 1944 "No P", I wonder if he would have gotten away with his crime.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I think he would have.
DCarr, do you have any pix of the 1946 Henning nickel?
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Even if the counterfeits were discovered later, it might be like the counterfeit Micro-o Morgan dollars, no one knows who made them either.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I cannot see your image Dan here or anywhere in this thread. was it removed ?
For some reason the CU forum seems to be blocking (for some people) the pictures that are hosted on my site.
When other people quote my original post and comment that they can not see my pictures, I can see the pictures in the quoted part of their post.
It seems that I can post a direct link to any of my pictures, and EVERYONE can click on those links and see the pictures just fine. But if I insert one of those links into my post as a picture, SOME people can not see the picture.
Anyway, here are direct links to the pictures:
1944 no-"P" mint-state obverse photo #1:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_obv_1.jpg
1944 no-"P" mint-state reverse photo #1:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_rev_1.jpg
1944 no-"P" mint-state obverse photo #2:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_obv_2.jpg
1944 no-"P" mint-state reverse photo #2:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_rev_2.jpg
1946 Henning obverse:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_1946_obv.jpg
1946 Henning reverse:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_1946_rev.jpg
1946 Henning rim cud:
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_1946_cud.jpg
1946 Henning "QF":
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/henning_1946_of.jpg
I'll have to scrutinize my 1946 nickels.
If there are two different "looped R" reverses, the next question, then, is how did Henning make his dies?
I had thought it might be through an impact method but that would have damaged the host coin. Perhaps spark erosion?
I suspect that he used Jefferson nickels in some sort of transfer process, and that at least two reverse dies were made from a coin that had a damaged (looped) "R" in PLURIBUS. As to what sort of transfer process was used, I think the bumpy surface texture of AU and mint-state examples indicates that it was not a direct impact method. They could have been made as a mold and then cast in hard metal, and then the hard castings were used like hubs. Or perhaps the dies were cast directly from a molded coin (although it is unknown how such castings could have been hardened enough to make them brittle and susceptible to die breaks like that seen on my rim cud).
Nice images. It's great to see all of these!
I can see both of those 1944 coins in your links are counterfeit, but how can you tell they came from Henning?
Neither have the 2 accepted markers -1) break in lower leg of R or 2) dot above the deck to the left of the dome.
The known dates of Henning counterfeits are: 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953. I missed the boat , my dad saved lots of these date nickels for years and years. I don't know why, and then one day he had my sister take them all to the bank.
. I never got to search them. 
. I do have a 1944 but I don't know if it is a Henning. Are there any other possible Henning dates? I do have a bag of about 475 1939's to check though.
Can anyone provide pictures of the other known dates? (1939, 1947,1953) Thanks if you can!
Bob
It is the same coin, pictured twice with different lighting angles to show the mint luster.
I don't know of any 1944 no-mint-mark copper-nickel alloy Jeffersons other than the Henning coins.
The dot above the dome could be a small die chip that formed later.
Also, Henning is reported to have claimed that there were six different reverse dies ?
I think Henning said there were 6 each obverse and reverse dies. However, there is no indication that he kept specific die pairs together.
Since there are 5 known dates, the question is, did he make two dies of the same date, or is there a date that has not yet been identified?
error-ref.com/henning-counterfeit-nickel/