LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 April Rosemont, IL (CSNS) US Coin #1104  / 

1826

1944-P 5C VF30 PCGS On Copper-Nickel Planchet

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1944-P 5C VF30 PCGS On Copper-Nickel Planchet
<B>1944-P 5C Jefferson Nickel--Struck on a Copper-Nickel Planchet--VF30 PCGS.</B></I> The PCGS insert describes the alloy as 79.6% copper, 19.9% nickel, and 0.5% aluminum. This lot offers an intriguing and possibly unique 1944-P Jefferson nickel struck in an alloy close to that of the pre-war copper-nickel. In 1942, the Mint withdrew nickel, an important metal for the production of armaments, from the five cent coin, replacing it with an alloy of copper, silver, and manganese. This alloy remained in use through 1945. Sometime in 1944, however, a pre-war copper-nickel planchet found its way into one of the nickel presses at the Philadelphia Mint, producing the present error. The 2008 <I>Guide Book</B></I> lists a 1944 nickel without a mintmark as a counterfeit. The coin that we are offering here <I>does,</B></I> however, display the large P-mintmark on the reverse above Monticello, and it was definitely struck from genuine dies. It is interesting to note that this coin circulated for some time before it was recognized as the rarity that it is. Both sides are tinged in olive-gold iridescence with even overall wear. A few small abrasions on seen near the right reverse border, but the surfaces are remarkably smooth for a coin that saw this extensive circulation.<BR>The importance of the present error stems, at least in part, from its close association with the 1943 copper and 1944 steel cents. These issues are perhaps the two most famous off-metal errors in U.S. numismatics. It is easy for us to imagine how a few copper planchets found their way into the cent presses in early 1943, and also how a few steel planchets did likewise in 1944. Since the Mint last used copper-nickel planchets for nickel production in 1942, it is more difficult for us to understand how one of these planchets found its way into a coinage press in 1944. For the same reason, we also suspect that this error may be nearly unique, or at least rarer than the 1943 copper and 1944 steel Cents. We know of only one other example, lot 10306 from our June 2004 Long Beach Signature. An evenly circulated example with a smooth tan-gray appearance aside from an inconspicuous thin mark near the second 4 in the date.<BR><BR><B>Coin Engraver:</B> Felix Schlag<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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