The Half-Dime of 1942 - coin that "almost was."
RWB
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For those who enjoy Franklin half dollars or "what if" situations, take a look at the article beginning on page 50 of Coin Values (bundled with the current issue of Coin World for subscribers). Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
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I was just about to sit down & read the issue! Now I know there's something good to look forward to.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Could someone fill us in on the supposed "1942 half dime"? I was under the impression that half dime production stopped nearly 70 years prior to that. Or must I wait until the USPS delivers my Coin World?
We all know that the composition of the nickel was changed in 1942 to 35% silver in an effort to conserve strategic metal supplies to fight the Germans, Japanese and Italians. If the government were to eliminate the nickel in 1942 and replace it with a new half dime made of silver (which would most likely be close to 35% the size of the nickel) they would achieve their goal of conserving war time metals.
I'll bet you there were at least two suggestions looked at by congress and they chose to change the Jefferson Nickel composition over making a new half dime because it required less effort and money. Just add a mintmark to the existing dies and make new planchets. With a new half dime they'd have to commision an artist, have the government come to an agreement and finalize a design, pass the laws required to make a new coin, make brand new dies, etc...
When considering the monumental non-numismatic tasks facing the nation and world at that time, chosing the quicker and easier option was, I'm sure, seen as the right thing to do. As a half dime collector I would have loved the mint to make a "war time half dime" but I also believe attention needed to be spended in other pursuits than coinage during that time.
Edited to add: If my theory is correct or even close to being correct I wonder if they got as far as actually making up a design for the proposed new half dime?
Coin World takes a strong stand on people scanning and posting their articles. In last week's issue, Deisher wrote an editorial about it being a no-no.
morris <><
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<< <i>Isn't the "WWII nickel" technically a half dime anyway...I mean its just silver and manganese right? So no nickel, so I saw we pass a man law calling them half dimes.
morris <>< >>
Not sure if it was technically a half dime, the war nickles were 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese.
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<< <i>Coin World takes a strong stand on people scanning and posting their articles. >>
And I agree with them, which is why I asked for a summary and not a scan. Just something more of a discussion starter than "Coin World, page 50".
The 1942 half-dime went as far as the model stage and was one of several initiatives to reduce use of strategic metals. The article shows six drawings by John Sinnock - 2 obv and 4 rev. The mint director also discusses some of the other coin material options such as plastic, pure zinc cents, etc. You can find a summary on-line by searching for the latest issue of "e-sylum".