Coin Roll Hunting War Nickels

TheGreatCoinRoller

Hello, Everyone!
Most of my coin roll hunting career has been through pennies, but I'm wanting to branch out more. I've always liked the heftiness of a nickel, and there are enough varieties to keep me interested for sure. But, I thought it would also be fun just to plow through a box of nickels for silver's sake. I guess I'm looking for any tips you might have for finding war nickels. What years should I be looking for and as I understand it, there is also an especially large mint mark above the Monticello. Will there be any wartime nickels without a mint mark?

zippcity

1942-1945 P-D-S mintmarks above Monticello . All will have mint marks.

TheGreatCoinRoller

Thank you, zippcity!
So, I can speed through a roll pretty quickly just looking for that extra large mint mark then.
I appreciate your interest.

zippcity

Keep in mind that there were upwards of 64 million 1942 "pre war" nickel coins minted prior to the wartime silver alloy coins which were introduced Oct. 8, 1942. Good luck with the hunt and welcome to the boards.

JBK

If you search by date, some 1942 coins will be silver, some won’t – it was a transitional year so they started using silver partway through the year. Check the reverse for the large mintmark to see if it is one of those.

Also, if you find a 1944 nickel without the large mintmark it is likely a Henning counterfeit, worth far more than a silver nickel.

After a while you will be able to spot most silver nickels by color alone – they tend to be darker than other nickels and they appear a little greenish to my eyes. I did find one that has the date and mintmark of a silver war nickel but the color of any other non-war nickel from the era. I was hoping it was an off-metal error, but it rings like silver when dropped on a table..…

I sometime search boxes of nickels, and if I find 2 war nickels in a box (2000 coins) that is a good day. Sometimes I find none, sometimes I find a few. I also find Buffaloes (with and without dates) occasionally. I find very few proof nickels, surprisingly. I have heard of people finding a 2 ½ gold coin in a nickel roll, but none for me so far.

TheGreatCoinRoller

Ok, now you just made it fun. With the 1942 nickels, I'll need to weigh them out with a scale, or is it just a matter of one having the special mint mark and the other will not?

ModCrewman

@TheGreatCoinRoller said:
Ok, now you just made it fun. With the 1942 nickels, I'll need to weigh them out with a scale, or is it just a matter of one having the special mint mark and the other will not?

It's all about the mint mark.

mannie gray

War Nickels will stand out if they've circulated a while.
They usually turn a golden/green/brown color.
You will be extremely lucky if you find any at all.
I found 2 last year, and that was a productive year!

mannie gray

@TheGreatCoinRoller said:
Ok, now you just made it fun. With the 1942 nickels, I'll need to weigh them out with a scale, or is it just a matter of one having the special mint mark and the other will not?

@TheGreatCoinRoller said:
Ok, now you just made it fun. With the 1942 nickels, I'll need to weigh them out with a scale, or is it just a matter of one having the special mint mark and the other will not?

Yes.

ManifestDestiny

Good luck. I just bought a bag of $250 nickels and I found one war nickel and one Buffalo nickel in the whole thing. This bag was from my local banks coin counting machine.

TheGreatCoinRoller

@JBK said:
If you search by date, some 1942 coins will be silver, some won’t – it was a transitional year so they started using silver partway through the year. Check the reverse for the large mintmark to see if it is one of those.

Also, if you find a 1944 nickel without the large mintmark it is likely a Henning counterfeit, worth far more than a silver nickel.

After a while you will be able to spot most silver nickels by color alone – they tend to be darker than other nickels and they appear a little greenish to my eyes. I did find one that has the date and mintmark of a silver war nickel but the color of any other non-war nickel from the era. I was hoping it was an off-metal error, but it rings like silver when dropped on a table..…

I sometime search boxes of nickels, and if I find 2 war nickels in a box (2000 coins) that is a good day. Sometimes I find none, sometimes I find a few. I also find Buffaloes (with and without dates) occasionally. I find very few proof nickels, surprisingly. I have heard of people finding a 2 ½ gold coin in a nickel roll, but none for me so far.

That's incredible! I couldn't even imagine unwrapping a nickel roll and seeing a band of gold. I've never heard of a Henning counterfeit. What is that?

TheGreatCoinRoller

@mannie gray said:
War Nickels will stand out if they've circulated a while.
They usually turn a golden/green/brown color.
You will be extremely lucky if you find any at all.
I found 2 last year, and that was a productive year!

I'm sure with spot silver prices as high as they've been, they've all been scooped up pretty quickly. Still, a fun challenge for a year. Thanks!

asheland

TheGreatCoinRoller

@ManifestDestiny said:
Good luck. I just bought a bag of $250 nickels and I found one war nickel and one Buffalo nickel in the whole thing. This bag was from my local banks coin counting machine.

How often do you find Buffalo's?

JBK

You can get a much better explanation if you Google it or maybe even there is a thread here somewhere, but the short version is that in the 1950s a guy in NJ named Henning counterfeited nickels (5 or 6 different dates - there is some confusion on that point). His work was so good that only the 1944 stood out as it was missing the large mintmark on the reverse. His counterfeits are still out there and they turn up once in a while.

bronco2078

The last $20 in nickles I searched just this past week , resulted in 1 buffalo 1924 p , and 1 41p , 52p, 57p, 57d, 57d, and a 59d. No silver My best find in nickles , about 3 months ago

DCW

@JBK said:
You can get a much better explanation if you Google it or maybe even there is a thread here somewhere, but the short version is that in the 1950s a guy in NJ named Henning counterfeited nickels (5 or 6 different dates - there is some confusion on that point). His work was so good that only the 1944 stood out as it was missing the large mintmark on the reverse. His counterfeits are still out there and they turn up once in a while.

Funny aside to this story. Apparently during his sentencing, Henning was asked by the judge why he did it. Why did he counterfeit US nickels?
His answer? "I had to pay for the counterfeiting equipment!"
The judge reportedly told him that he was a tremendous waste of talent.

WoodenJefferson

@JBK said:

I have heard of people finding a 2 ½ gold coin in a nickel roll, but none for me so far.

That was one of those 'salted' rolls you find on e-bay

ManifestDestiny

I have only bought one bag of nickels and that was enough for me. That was a lot of nickels!!!! I literally only found one Buffalo and one war nickel in that entire bag.

@TheGreatCoinRoller said:

@ManifestDestiny said:
Good luck. I just bought a bag of $250 nickels and I found one war nickel and one Buffalo nickel in the whole thing. This bag was from my local banks coin counting machine.

How often do you find Buffalo's?

ModCrewman

Before I moved on to other collecting pursuits I roll searched nickels to complete my entire set 1938-2010 from rolls...and did it including the 1950-D. I searched approximately 105,000 nickels and maybe found 15-20 Buffalo nickels.

ms70

Last year I went on a nickel roll hunting binge and at the time I worked at a bank, so it was convenient and easy to do every day. I went through several hundred dollars worth of rolls to fill my Whitman folder. I found many that I needed but zero war nickels. However I did come across several Buffalo nickels and Canadian nickels.

So in my experience there is a better chance of finding Buffaloes before finding a war nickel. But that doesn't mean it won't happen. Good luck!

OldEastside

A couple months back at a Vons CoinStar I scored 3 war nickels

Steve

KellenCoin

If you look through enough coins I recommend just looking for the mintmark, as it is bigger than the date. Less strain on your eyes.

UTTM07

I've only received one silver nickel in change. I spotted it in the change drawer at a restaurant and asked for "that really dirty nickel."

Amazing V nickel roll find bronco!

DCW

It would seem easier to find silver nickels than buffaloes and liberty nickels, given the obvious design changes.
This thread suggests the contrary.

TopographicOceans

I love the giant mint marks on silver war nickels.
Good luck on your hunt.

bronco2078

@UTTM07 said:
I've only received one silver nickel in change. I spotted it in the change drawer at a restaurant and asked for "that really dirty nickel."

Amazing V nickel roll find bronco!

That came from a customer wrapped roll so it could have come from the home of some coin collector

davewesen

If you are going to go through hundreds of rolls, I would save everything older than 1960.

JBK

In celebration of this thread I went through a box of 2000 nickels tonight. One nice war nic, no buffs, and a a few Jeffs from 38/39. A smattering from the 40s and a couple from the 50s, and one 2009.

JBK

And one Canadian and one bermuda.

cecropiamoth

When I was heavy into the roll hunting I enjoyed doing nickels. A $100 box was usually good for a silver war nickel or two. Sometimes as many as four, but there would be skunks too. Throw in the occasional (mostly) dateless Buffalo and it was a fun sort. I think I even found two or three V's, with one of those being on the end of a roll. The mintmarked 1938 and 1939 Jefferson's are very difficult to find as is the 1950-D.

Jeff

mustangmanbob

A local coin dealer culled his inventory several years ago. He punched out the 50-D's, war nickles, and a few others, and dumped all the rest. It filled 5 - 6 milk crates, about 6 feet tall, and took them all to the bank. He was in his 70's then, and often overlooked stuff. More than a few times, when buying an empty album, I would find a page or 2 full of coins that I would show him to put back in his inventory.

ricko

@TheGreatCoinRoller ..... Welcome aboard..... good luck in your search. I have not found a war nickel in change in quite a while... last one was about two years ago... Cheers, RickO

mannie gray

@bronco2078 said:
The last $20 in nickles I searched just this past week , resulted in 1 buffalo 1924 p , and 1 41p , 52p, 57p, 57d, 57d, and a 59d. No silver My best find in nickles , about 3 months ago

that is a CRAZY good find.

Had to be stolen/spent by druggies or inheritors who were ignorant or lazy and just dumped into a coinstar.........
I've been looking through rolls since 1972 and have never found a V nickel, and just a handful of Buffs.

AS far as putting together a set of Jeffs from circulation....I tried but never found a 1939-D or 1950-D.
The tough ones for me were 1946-S, 1947-S, 1950, 1951-S, 1955 and 1958.
In a strange way, it may actually be easier today to put together a set as lazy inheritors are dumping collectiosns/accumulations into Coinstars and not bothering to try to find out what they may have...
Maybe...??? Maybe not....

mannie gray

Regarding the Hennings coins

4-5 years ago I bought a huge lot of pre-1960 nickels from the back pages of Numismatic News.
I can't recall exactly what I paid but it was just a little bit over face and of course I paid shipping.
The lot was almost entirely S mint coins, which was a surprise, and I found a 1944 (P) Henning which was another surprise, along with nearly a roll of 1941-S Lg S.
I spent a lot of time looking but made a really nice profit on the deal.
So if time=money, maybe I didn't make that much...

sellitstore

"It would seem easier to find silver nickels than buffaloes and liberty nickels, given the obvious design changes.
This thread suggests the contrary."

It's about value more than design. War Nickels were worth $2 each for a while and over $1 for longer periods while low grade Buffalos and V nickels have been 25 cent items forever.

DCW

@sellitstore said:
"It would seem easier to find silver nickels than buffaloes and liberty nickels, given the obvious design changes.
This thread suggests the contrary."

It's about value more than design. War Nickels were worth $2 each for a while and over $1 for longer periods while low grade Buffalos and V nickels have been 25 cent items forever.

I'm talking about pulling coins from change. The average person doesn't know that a bright white 1964 Washie is worth more than a 1965 clad. They are oblivious to silver vs clad.
But yet people continue to save "wheat pennies" with no numismatic premium whatsoever, simply because they are "different."
You really believe someone would notice a silver Jefferson nickel before a Buffalo or Liberty nickel?
Worth less, yes. But foreign and interesting to the general public.

TheGreatCoinRoller

@ManifestDestiny said:
Good luck. I just bought a bag of $250 nickels and I found one war nickel and one Buffalo nickel in the whole thing. This bag was from my local banks coin counting machine.

How often do you find Buffalo's?> @JBK said:

You can get a much better explanation if you Google it or maybe even there is a thread here somewhere, but the short version is that in the 1950s a guy in NJ named Henning counterfeited nickels (5 or 6 different dates - there is some confusion on that point). His work was so good that only the 1944 stood out as it was missing the large mintmark on the reverse. His counterfeits are still out there and they turn up once in a while.

Holy cow! Really? I'll look into that. For me, it's a curiosity for motivation. Was he actually producing nickels for less than face value? I think we're onto something interesting here! Have any of you written on the subject of counterfeiting coins?

TheGreatCoinRoller

@DCW said:

@JBK said:
You can get a much better explanation if you Google it or maybe even there is a thread here somewhere, but the short version is that in the 1950s a guy in NJ named Henning counterfeited nickels (5 or 6 different dates - there is some confusion on that point). His work was so good that only the 1944 stood out as it was missing the large mintmark on the reverse. His counterfeits are still out there and they turn up once in a while.

Funny aside to this story. Apparently during his sentencing, Henning was asked by the judge why he did it. Why did he counterfeit US nickels?
His answer? "I had to pay for the counterfeiting equipment!"
The judge reportedly told him that he was a tremendous waste of talent.

That's incredible!

TheGreatCoinRoller

@WoodenJefferson said:

@JBK said:

I have heard of people finding a 2 ½ gold coin in a nickel roll, but none for me so far.

That was one of those 'salted' rolls you find on e-bay

So, you think they just put it in there to make the story? Or was the gold piece itself actually gold-plated tungsten or something?

TheGreatCoinRoller

@ManifestDestiny said:
I have only bought one bag of nickels and that was enough for me. That was a lot of nickels!!!! I literally only found one Buffalo and one war nickel in that entire bag.

@TheGreatCoinRoller said:

@ManifestDestiny said:
Good luck. I just bought a bag of $250 nickels and I found one war nickel and one Buffalo nickel in the whole thing. This bag was from my local banks coin counting machine.

How often do you find Buffalo's?

If I found a Buffalo AND a V nickel for every bag of nickels, I'd push through another ten bags of nickels. lol I haven't been able to find either yet, let alone silver. But, that's why I'm here. I needed some pro-tips.

TheGreatCoinRoller

@ModCrewman said:
Before I moved on to other collecting pursuits I roll searched nickels to complete my entire set 1938-2010 from rolls...and did it including the 1950-D. I searched approximately 105,000 nickels and maybe found 15-20 Buffalo nickels.

I've been focused on completing my Lincoln coin folders, just picking up where I left off from childhood and finally just found my first Indian Head. Now, that was better than Christmas morning! I could push through another 30 pounds of pennies just to recapture that moment again. But, I'm just enjoying finding these small treasures in the wild. Now that I'm an adult, I could just go buy the rest of my coins, and in much better conditions, but I'll tell you, even the oldest, rattiest, tarnished coin I've found and pushed into my albums are worth so much more to me because I found them myself. There's just something about putting in the work, I guess. So, even though your own returns on Buffalos are low, what you've really told me is that I can still hope to find one myself. So, thank you for that!

ModCrewman

I did find a couple of well warn V-nickels too.

TheGreatCoinRoller

@ms70 said:
Last year I went on a nickel roll hunting binge and at the time I worked at a bank, so it was convenient and easy to do every day. I went through several hundred dollars worth of rolls to fill my Whitman folder. I found many that I needed but zero war nickels. However I did come across several Buffalo nickels and Canadian nickels.

So in my experience there is a better chance of finding Buffaloes before finding a war nickel. But that doesn't mean it won't happen. Good luck!

A bank! Brilliant! That must have been CRH heaven!!! Thanks for the tip, too. It's not everyday you get to evaluate the circulation pool like that! Very valuable info!

TheGreatCoinRoller

@OldEastside said:
A couple months back at a Vons CoinStar I scored 3 war nickels

Steve

You've got to be kidding me! Really?! Now, I've heard of scalping CoinStars before and I've even tried it myself. But, I got a big fat goose egg every time. Do you work a Vons were you could check it regularly? Because, I've used the CoinStar before, and it always tells you to check the reject tray. I'm not saying I don't believe you, it could very well happen, but it just seems so unlikely. So, for that, I hope you also bought a lotto ticket that day, and GREAT SCORE, friend! You've inspired me to keep checking.

TheGreatCoinRoller

@KellenCoin said:
If you look through enough coins I recommend just looking for the mintmark, as it is bigger than the date. Less strain on your eyes.

That's a great tip! This will definitely help me increase my volume searched. Thank you!

TheGreatCoinRoller

@UTTM07 said:
I've only received one silver nickel in change. I spotted it in the change drawer at a restaurant and asked for "that really dirty nickel."

Amazing V nickel roll find bronco!

Amazing! You could spot that from over the counter? I've never even thought about peeping in on the drawer! Sorry, I'm laughing! That just seems like a 1 in a google shot!!! Great pull!!!

TheGreatCoinRoller

@DCW said:
It would seem easier to find silver nickels than buffaloes and liberty nickels, given the obvious design changes.
This thread suggests the contrary.

It seems to be pulling that way. What's really got my mind turning, is where are these Buffalos and Liberty nickels coming from? I've got a few ideas. We've just gone through, or in some cases, still experiencing this "Great Recession", and I can't help thinking that, 1) People are getting desperate and cashing in as fast as they can. Just roll everything up and take it to the bank. 2) An aging population that was very interested in coin collecting is passing away and relatives are cashing in at the bank without ever knowing what they have. 3) People are getting desperate and stealing collections. Hiding their booty in customer-wrapped rolls and taking them to the bank to cash out. 4) Experienced Numismatists get a kick out of rolling a vintage coin in a customer-wrapped roll, with the hopes that someone might find it and be inspired to continue the tradition. This last one I am DEFFINATLY going to do when I'm older, because if my relatives are just going to give it away, why should they have all the fun! I would love to hear thoughts on this...

TheGreatCoinRoller

@TopographicOceans said:
I love the giant mint marks on silver war nickels.
Good luck on your hunt.

Although I have yet to find one, it does make searching a lot easier! Thanks for the luck!

TheGreatCoinRoller

@bronco2078 said:

@UTTM07 said:
I've only received one silver nickel in change. I spotted it in the change drawer at a restaurant and asked for "that really dirty nickel."

Amazing V nickel roll find bronco!

That came from a customer wrapped roll so it could have come from the home of some coin collector

It sounds like you got to watch them dump the roll out. So, in this case, you might say you're better off search the customer-wrapped rolls than the bank-wrapped rolls? Has this been everyone else's experience?

TheGreatCoinRoller

@davewesen said:
If you are going to go through hundreds of rolls, I would save everything older than 1960.

Ok, I'll bite. Why older than 1960?