A Jacked Up War Nickel Is Making My Head Hurt

[BigWaveDave]

My hunt today was a good...ooh! My first SBA, a 45 record insert, 11 wheats, And a couple of silvers...or so I thought.

The 1944 P war nickel has me scratching my head.

When I found it, it was tarnished pretty black, as they typically are pulled deep from the turf...but when I cleaned it up with soap and water, she shined up pretty clean...OK...?

When I unintentionally tossed it on the granite countertop, it didn't sound anything like I expected, literally a thud....OK....?

So I grabbed the other 8 war nickels I've found, and compared them....
The 8 had the light plink sound of I guess copper and silver alloy, but the new one, still, thud.

The weight of my 8 average 4.79 grams, accounting for wear, should be 5 grams. The new one, 4.5 grams, but not nearly the wear as others.

The silver test kit revealed a black stain on the cotton, not red, indicative of silver...

Now guy, this is the kicker...I have NEVER found a nickel that rang up as a 75 on the At Pro...
All the other ones, a solid 55, this one, when I found it, thought I was pulling a wheat. Sure enough, scanned it again, compared to the others, still 75.... WTF?



Compared to the others...


None of the pieces respond to a magnet, nor should they...

The Henning Counterfeit was my first inclination, but the P mint mark is on the reverse, telling me it's not a Henning...but what is it?

The 75 on the detector has me baffled.

So, tell me what you think, oh, pics of other finds, for your enjoyment...


Thanks for looking!

 

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[bill from lachine]

That's quite the puzzle you found I was going to say it's just staining from the soil or another nearby metal object in the ground but given the light weight and minimal wear this one baffles me also.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[ScubaDetector]

READ about counterfeit 1944 nickles. You MIGHT have one. Well it is a good read. Yours has the P over the dome. Counterfeit ones do not. Sorry

1944 Counterfeit Nickel - aka the Henning Nickel - Coin Forum - CoinPeople.com

 

[BigWaveDave]

Yea,
I did all the research, hours of it before I posted... I am stumped.

 

[A2coins]

Could it have something to do with the mineralization of the soil I have found red dimes pennies half eroded just a thought. Hey its kinda cool to have a mystery war nickel than just a war nickel .Though I love those war nickels also.

 

[BigWaveDave]

Could it have something to do with the mineralization of the soil I have found red dimes pennies half eroded just a thought. Hey its kinda cool to have a mystery war nickel than just a war nickel .Though I love those war nickels also.

No... I ran the coil over it here at my house, on my sidewalk, and also an air test off the side of my picnic table...
55 on all the war nickels, 75 on the 44 P dug today...BIZARRE.

 

[Johncoho]

Quite possibly you might have a mint screw up. Maybe it was struck on a regular nickel blank, but normal nickels ring up on my AT Pro in the low to mid 50's. Just a thought but who knows. It really doesn't look like a war nickel compared to the rest. It doesn't appear to have any silver content.

 

[A2coins]

I mean like if there was say a high iron content in the ground could it have soaked in the nickel maybe that's why its more dense just a crazy thought . I hope some how it could be something valuable ya never know!!!

 

[BigWaveDave]

Thanks for the input guys...
By 1944, I margined the mint was locked in to making war nickels after 2 years, so I think they had perfected the process, so a mint error/wrong planchette seems to be a reach, imo... And the Henning counterfeit is ruled out...
Now you know why my head hurts... 75 on the pro, and underweight, and the dull thud when it's dropped...ugh!

 

[Scrappy]

Dave you gotta mystery there bro. I saw you post and the subject and knew this was going to be a good one! Lol

I'm going to call the Hardy Boys and investigate. I'm curious and my hagaloo is already in bed, so I'll investigate.

 

[villagenut]

Hopefully you got a real winner there.

 

[tomhighland]

Congratulations on a cool mystery coin. This is way more fun than adding to the stack! I would say to contact the mint but they would probably confiscate it. That is a serious keeper.

 

[BigWaveDave]

Looks like I will be making a trip to my LCS... this might get slabbed as a

"1944 P, 5¢, cluster bomb, VF details"

 

[against the wind]

95 % of the nickels I have found with the AT PRO have registered 51-52. Even the Silver nickel comes in with similar. The ground condintion may cause a difference but not a 20 point difference??

 

[treblehunter]

Nice find Dave, I found a couple like that and it had me wondering. Iv'e noticed certain years for dimes and quarters will have different colors. I have my own theory. The different compositions of metals in some coins I think the amounts could be some different mixes. In other words more of one metal then other metals causing different colors.

Just the roofers theory?

 

[ScubaDetector]

Thanks for the input guys...
By 1944, I margined the mint was locked in to making war nickels after 2 years, so I think they had perfected the process, so a mint error/wrong planchette seems to be a reach, imo... And the Henning counterfeit is ruled out...
Now you know why my head hurts... 75 on the pro, and underweight, and the dull thud when it's dropped...ugh!

STRANGER things have happened. There is a slabbed American quarter 1970 I believe that was stamped OVER a silver Canadian quarter on fee bay right now for 35 grand.

1970 s Proof Washington Quarter Struck on 1941 Canada Quarter NGC PF 65 | eBay

HOW that could have happened is way beyond me.

 

[Deft Tones]

Two years ago I also hit a war nickel on the atpro that rang in the seventies. It was odd I thought, but at the time I only had maybe 20 hours on the machine, and there was a lightning storm going on, so I just bagged it and moved on. I've never given it a thought until I read your experience.

I'll try to see if I can find that coin again. I'll have to sweep em', but I know it's there mixed with the others.

 

[Deft Tones]

STRANGER things have happened. There is a slabbed American quarter 1970 I believe that was stamped OVER a silver Canadian quarter on fee bay right now for 35 grand.

1970 s Proof Washington Quarter Struck on 1941 Canada Quarter NGC PF 65 | eBay

HOW that could have happened is way beyond me.

The human element.

I'd suspect a mint employee trying to make some money.

 

[wpsgta1000]

Try researching if the Phili mint was minting coins for other countries at that time. I know that they did so in the past for a number of countries. Maybe it was struck on a planchet intended for a foreign coin.

 

[ajaj]

This is interesting. Your LCS may not have the expert you're looking for. You could send it to PCGS but it will cost some and, if not a genuine nickel, will probably come back as "Not Able To Authenticate". You may try contacting these people...

CONECAonline

aj