Friday, 27 January 2012

An Introduction to Silver War Coins

By George Lapidis


Silver war coin is the label used for nickels that were produced by the United States amidst the fighting years from 1942 to 1945. The war coins were composed of 56% copper which was consumed with a 5% silver and 9% manganese.

One of the reasons for creating these coins in this manner was to save nickel metal which could be utilized in the industrial creation of military supplies to manage the armies during World War II.

Nickel differs from silver in several ways, the mostvaluable of which-for that time-was its heavy usage in military production. The use of silver for the war coins changed their weight as well as their looks, creating them rare and substantial additions to any numismatist's collection.

Since they were minted in the San Francisco facility they bore the mint mark of "S". In later years silver war coins were also minted in Denver as well as Philadelphia and advertised the mint marks correctly. These coins are also regarded as being the first coins to be minted with the mark of the Philadelphia mintage facility.

A small amount of 1942 nickels was mass-produced without having any silver content. These coins are indicated by a small "S" or "D" stamped on the right side of Monticello's dome. Similarly the pure metal coins from the Philadelphia facility had no mint mark at all.

The 1942 silver war coin was minted in San Francisco as well as Philadelphia. They were produced in honour of the occasions that took place during this year of war. The most famous events incorporated the capture of Manila by the Japanese forces, the bombing of Tokyo by Doolittle's Raiders, the Battle of Midway and the American success over Japanese forces at Guadalcanal.

Additional valuable war coin would be the nickels of 1943, which were in honour of the German defeat by the Russians and the many victories of the allies. As with most other coins in the US, these have three possible mint marks: S, D, or P. Most US coins come from one of these mints, the latter two being Denver and Philadelphia, and customers actually set apart among them.

World War II, the fight of the Allied and Axis powers, was an demonstrative about feelings time for a lot people in multiple nations, which is probably why the silver war coins are so highly sought after by a lot numismatists, who know the symbolic value of these coins. Such coins are technically artefacts of the culture producing them. In much the same way museums now display ancient coins from past civilizations, so might these same coins be featured in the future.

About 119 million copies of the 1944 silver war coins were shaped at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco mintage accommodations. These coins were meant to commemorate the wartime situations that came to pass in 1944. These included the success of Allied forces in the Battle of Monte Cassino, the capture of Rome by the Allied forces, the liberation of Paris by the Allied forces and the Battle of bulge.




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