Why was the mint mark location changed for the Wartime Nickels?
CheeseGuy
Posts: 191 ✭✭
All I've read is that they moved it a above the building on the reverse and made the marks bigger so they could be distinguished from regular nickels. But why would the mint want them to be distinguishable in the first place? Wouldn't that just give another reason for collectors to pull them out of circulation?
I like cheese, notes, and coins. In that order.
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New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
<< <i>That sort of makes sense, but it doesnt' seem like it would be worth the costs associated with pulling them back out just to recover the silver (if that's why they wanted to). >>
Not really since minimum wage in 1946 was very minimal. Probably way less than a buck an hour and folks could pull a lot of nickels in an hour! As aan example, I think in 1961/62 minimum wage was $1.25 per hour.
My first full time job in 1967 paid me a whopping $2.22 per while a good wage was $3.25 per. $5.00 was unheard of for the working class!
The name is LEE!
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
They told me it stood for Philadelphia.
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My first full time job in 1967 paid me a whopping $2.22 per while a good wage was $3.25 per. $5.00 was unheard of for the working class! >>
My first job at Hardee's paid $3.15 an hour min wage... and that was in 1989
You wouldn't believe how long it took to get him to sit still for this.
Shortly thereafter, the onset of World War II prompted the rationing of many commodities, certain metals among them. Nickel was highly valued for use in armor plating, and Congress ordered the removal of this metal from the five-cent piece, effective October 8, 1942. From that date, and lasting through the end of 1945, five-cent pieces bore the regular design but were minted from an alloy of copper, silver and manganese. It was anticipated that these emergency coins would be withdrawn from circulation after the war, so a prominent distinguishing feature was added. Coins from all three mints bore very large mintmarks above the dome of Monticello, and the letter 'P' was used as a mintmark for the first time on a U. S. coin. These "war nickels" proved quite satisfactory in circulation, and they were not immediately withdrawn. Instead, they remained a familiar sight until the mid-1960s, when rising silver prices caused them to be hoarded for their bullion value.
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