The "Racketeer Nickel"
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- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- Except for change, the nickel often escapes notice. But that wasn’t always true. In 1883, a nickel design was released that would cause enormous consternation for the U.S. mint, and led to fraud all over the country. The most famous fraudster of the 1883 ‘racketeer nickel,' is said to have been deaf and mute - a fact that may have only helped him get away with the crime.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by JCG
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"Nickelodeon" was originally "Nickel Odeon," with "Odeon" being a performing hall.
Oh snap, you saw the video too?
The similarities between the no cents nickel and $5 gold coin sound like the similarities between a Washington quarter and Susan B. Anthony dollar.
The SBA Dollar mirrored rather closely the same series of errors that had been made with the Twenty Cent silver coin issued from 1875 - 1878.
It was a coin that nobody seemed to want but the lobbyists who pushed for it.
My sister received an SBA dollar as a quarter in change just the other day. Which is exactly why they never caught on.
@@SalisburySnake Bingo.
@@SalisburySnake it didnt help that vending machines ate'em as quarters. i had to argue with a bus driver over using one also.
When I was a kid, a long long time ago, adults used to tell kids, "Don't take any wooden nickels". I wonder where that phrase came from.
From wooden tokens given out at brothels for change that were redeemable for a beer in the saloon downstaires. And were printed with, "Good for one five cent beer."
@@stefanschleps8758 Wow, thanks
@@stefanschleps8758 - Wrong... wooden nickels have no relationship with brothels. If you can provide one, please let me know.
@@stefanschleps8758 I had some long ago (don’t remember where they came from) but I’ve never been to brothels? 🤷🏻♀️
@@BatCaveOz Uhm....OK Boomer. You know it all.
Abe Simpson described nickels as having a bee on them. "Gimme five bees for a quarter, we used to say. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I needed a new heel for my shoe..."
The U.S. has never issued a coin with a bee in its design.
@@-oiiio-3993 You're a dull boy.
@@-oiiio-3993 you're missing the point. The important thing is he had an onion tied to his belt...
@@joshuabessire9169 He belt it, he dealt it.
@@drboze6781 That's the ruse.
A THG story on fraud involving "V nickels", definitely not what I was expecting to learn about this morning. Good job THG.
I feel like most of this story is about non cents
😃😃😃
I see what you did there... 😏
Thanks dad!!! Lol
😆😅🤣🤣
Listen here you....
Buffalo head nickel cuff links?
Sir, you are a very snazzy dresser. And, the epitome of an historian.🎩
Interestingly enough, I've heard the main reason people gold plated nickels was to make cuff links out of them, not spend them. Gold coin cuff links were fashionable then, but using plated nickels was the budget option.
Nickel was originally called "German Silver" in order to mislead the unwary. It's still being called that today in advertisements for commemorative baubles on the backs of magazines. Enticing phrases such as "100% pure German Silver" are used to suggest value that isn't there.
Quite correct.
The alloy first used for the U.S. Three Cent Nickel in 1865, for the Five Cent Nickel since 1866 and for the outer layers of 'copper nickel clad' coinage from 1965 to date is actually 75% copper, 25% nickel.
The Canadian Five Cent Nickel from 1965 - 1981, and most issues from 1922 - 1965 were 99.9% (.999 pure) nickel and, as such, will 'stick' to a magnet.
@@-oiiio-3993 Once upon a time I got a Canadian 1943 "Victory" nickel in my change. It wasn't nickel at all because nickel is used for armour plate and the war was raging.
@@michaelmanning5379 Tombac.
@@-oiiio-3993 I had to look that up. Yep. That's the stuff. I never new the name.
@@michaelmanning5379 A metal that was popular for 'Colonial era' coat buttons.
As a coin-collecting Josh, I've told this story for years
Same here.
Ahhhhhhh! The Buffalo Nickel cuff links are a nice touch HG! Thanks for that!
A dislike? What can there possibly be to dislike about this?!
Stupidly.
It actually had a reference to purchasing the dreaded tobacco.
But then again what olly2027 said “stupidity”.
Some people are rather averse to facts.
Maybe they thought they had a $5 gold piece? Lol!
No tits, thumbs down.
Josh Tatum's alibi of never asking for change is what it's called a "Pro Move". Awesome story THG, I never thought a coin could be that interesting
I love the history guy. I especially love this episode since I'm a coin collector.
Yeah me as well. Not as much as when i was younger but still have an interest.
Me too. The 1912D nickel is one of my favorites.
Since you are a coin collector. I have a question.
Why would anyone gold plate a Morgan Silver dollar?
I have one that came in a batch of coins I purchased once.
It appears to be gold plated. I never checked.
@@williamfishcents2335 The first Denver minted five cent coin and only year for a mintmarked 'Liberty Nickel'.
They were also minted at San Francisco (1912S).
@@shawnr771 I have seen silver coins take on a golden patina; maybe you came across an extreme example?
The US has never de-nominated any coin or currency made by the US government. So if you were to try to use a 5 cent fractional note or a three cent piece in commerce today, it is totally okay and worth exactly what it says on it!
This is also true for postage stamps ... and 3¢ stamps can be had for 4¢ ... fills up half the envelope but the post office will still delivery it ...
@NikK -O they’re still legal tender, you just can’t exchange them for gold or silver any more.
Trade dollars were demonetized, they’re the only coin that has been demonetized by the US.
@@nomdeplume5446 Beat me to it!
@NikK -O All U.S. currency issued since 1861 is legal tender at face value (including Fractional Currency. Redemption of Gold Certificates for gold, however, ended in 1933 and redemption of Silver Certificates for silver ended in 1968.
As usual this is one of the best video programs on CZcams. Thanks for keeping me learning something new every day throughout my life!
Finally a History Guy where I knew the story in advance. I love the story so I could hear it again and again. Thank you, sir!
I was thinking the same thing!!!
I love being greeting each morning with a new tidbit of knowledge! Thanks @TheHistoryGuy for the continued great content!
I was working as a cashier late one night when someone came in to buy a pack of cigarettes. They handed me a ziploc bag of change. I had other customers, so I just let them go. Counted later, and they had short changed me by about 20ish cents. But there was an 1898 V nickel mixed in. Luckily I had some pocket change, so I gladly made up the difference, including the 5 cents so I could keep the V nickel.
Nothing like hitting a coin spill with V nickels and Indian head's with the Garrett AT Max.
I have an 1883 "No Cents" nickel. I'm sure at the time one of my great-grandparents, like millions of others, hoarded it in hopes it would increase in value. It didn't, but as you say in your video, it is a little bit of history (2/5ths of a bit to be exact) that deserves to be remembered.
Possibly the best history channel on CZcams
I tried plating a modern nickle with a five dollar bill. Let's just say the scheme was rather less successful...
A game of slug/paper/wishers?
Great way to start the week! Thanks THG for the knowledge pick-me-up!
Thank you for running this story I had heard about years ago.
"What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar."~Josh Tatum, possibly
Or, as another posted on this thread, _"What America needs is a good V cent cigar"._
I don't think he came up with that saying...although if he had, it would have had a more ironic tone
You missed a chance (and I thought you were going there) to explain that the practice of the chisling off the edges of coins before they were reeded is the derivation of the word "chisler."
I have one of these nickels, although some of the plating has flaked off.
Now you've gone and ruined my Josh Tatum story 😱😱😱
Thank you THG for your channel and historical research that you do on important events and, the not so important and, even the mundane. You make each subject interesting to view and that is a difficult feat in these current times of instant information. I take my hat off you to you sir and ask that you continue your channel for however long CZcams allows it.
I have been collecting coins since 1958. This short on the racketeer nickel was spot on. It is nice to watch a story that the author knows what he is talking about. Thanks for so many great history clips.
Yes, I enjoyed this episode and all the rest. You have a great channel.
I hope you hit the 1M mark by the end of the year!
Awesome to see this channel at almost a million.
Knew it would happen the first vid I watched
Great story..! Your enthusiasm makes the story more compelling, too. Love your vlog..!
Hahaha!!! I need to watch your History of glasses!! I thought the title was ROCKETEER nickels!! 😂
Very very well presented… I have got to share your videos with friends of mine in the numismatic community! Thanks for your work!
Reminds me of a Secret Service story I read about a fellow who minted his own nickels. He figured he wouldn't get caught, because who counterfeits nickels?
It reminds me of when "Beavis and Butthead" found out they could print money for the arcade, so they start printing out pictures of nickels, dimes and quarters.
The UK has a lot of counterfeit pound coins. They are not really worth very much, but again... who checks the low-denomination coin? Low risk, if you have some way to get spend them in quantity.
The problem was severe enough that the government had to introduce a new, bimetallic pound coin. They also decided that it should be twelve-sided for utterly stupid reasons, rather than keeping to an odd number of sides as would be sensible.
Also you should do a video on the infamous 1913 Liberty Head nickel.
Likely struck by a bad boy nephew of a Mint executive.
Five are known to exist, all proofs.
Almost 1 million!
Mr History Guy, I’m sad to watch this without interruption by commercial as you truly deserve compensation for your hard work!
Learnt quite a lot, thanks to this video. Most of what was discussed, is new to me, not being a US citizen.
Thankyou for uploading.
This is my favorite video of yours to date. Should you ever do another video on old coinage or paper money, I'd be happy to share some examples with you. I have a fairly decent collection.
Great program!
Fab cufflinks as well!
Please keep it up, sir....and best wishes to your son as well.
Wow this is great! The "V" or liberty nickel is my favourite design.
This reminds me of the similarities between the US quarter and the Susan B Anthony dollar coin minted in the '80s. Being the same color and about the same size and weight, they were easy for anyone to confuse, and given that I was fortunate enough to live in Turkey at the time that created a fun little game among us kids: the change machines on the military base were serviced by Turkish nationals who, aside from working said machines, didn't handle American currency often. So it was fairly common to insert a dollar bill and receive two dimes, a nickel, and any combination of 3 quarters or Susan B Anthony dollars...I once hit the jackpot and copped 3 Susan B's for my dollar (plus the 25 cents)!
The SBA Dollar mirrored rather closely the same series of errors that had been made with the Twenty Cent silver coin issued from 1875 - 1878.
It was a coin that nobody seemed to want but the lobbyists who pushed for it.
Harv72b, these are, also, the same folks who insisted about the Sacagawea dollar. THAT ONE ALWAYS was confused for a quarter.
I have one of those dollars hiding somewhere in the house.😄😄😄🌞🌞🌞✌✌✌✌
@@matthewpoplawski8740 speaking of Sacagawea...did you see that they removed a statue of Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea claiming that it was racist..? I guess it was also racist that she was on the coin? I would think it was an honor....but hey, what do I know?
@@alpha-omega2362 Alpha-Omega, I didn't know about the statue removal. The removal doesn't change the fact that the history occurred. But, like you, HEY WHAT DO I KNOW??👌👌👌✌✌✌✌
@@matthewpoplawski8740 The Sacagawea dollar was intentionally made so that vending machines already set up for SBA Dollars would recognize it as a dollar. Because Vending Machine Lobby. So... of course it's the same size, with the same problem.
We were always told not to ask a police officer "What is a penny made from"?
Lol . There are a couple of stories about how police came to be referred to as coppers. Probably the most valid is their badges in the early days were made of copper. Other theories were it came from Constable On Patrol and another is that to cop something means to seize or arrest.
@@charlesdudek7713 There was a story arc of the Alley Oop strip where Alley was made Cheif of Police. His helmet read "C.O.P."
@@ldbarthel Thanks for the memory, It made me smile.
Wow, Great video, full of info I've never heard before 😉👍💯 Thank you!
Research Fractional Currency, Three Cent Silver, Two Cent Bronze, Twenty Cent Silver for more fun stuff!
You blew my mind with the Nickelodeon thing... You're awesome THG! Even your throwaways are fire!
Love the story of the nickel and the bow tie!
Love your stories.
Great episode!
I’ll have to take a closer look at this nickel that I’ve come across at my Mom’s house. Thanks History Guy!!
I watched this video last night, and this morning I'm getting ads for collectable coins.
Welcome to algorithm world!
Anyone who has ever seen Al Gore dance will tell you that Al Gore has no rhythm. He talks and dances like a robot. Thanks for another great video.
And that boring monotone voice. The guy has the character of a paper sack.
I have one of the gold plated V nickels. My grandfather got me started in novice coil collecting when i was a kid in the mid-70's. I remember him telling me the story of the V nickel and had one, the finish was worn but you could tell it was plated gold. I still have it and hopefully my grandsons will be as interested as I was.
I have several of these nickels in my collections. Even have a gold plated silver dollar.
Wish I had a 1913 liberty nickel. Only five made.
Fun fact: Canadian coins are minted with a higher percentage of nickel than U.S. coins. Therefore, Canadian quarters, dimes and nickels are attracted to magnets.
Quite correct, depending on year minted and type.
The alloy first used for the U.S. Three Cent Nickel in 1865, for the Five Cent Nickel since 1866 (with exception of WW2 era 'Silver War Nickels') and for the outer layers of 'copper nickel clad' coinage from 1965 to date is actually 75% copper, 25% nickel.
The Canadian Five Cent Nickel from 1965 - 1981, and most issues from 1922 - 1965 were 99.9% (.999 pure) nickel and, as such, will 'stick' to a magnet.
American banks will not exchange Canadian coins for American ones. Apparently, you have to go to Canada to use them.
@@amadeusamwater Unless he's already there.
Some banks do provide 'foreign exchange' and will redeem them at the current exchange rate and, perhaps, charge a fee.
FOREX counters can also be found at some international airports.
Presently, one Canadian dollar is worth a fraction over eighty cents of USD.
@@-oiiio-3993 , When I was a teenager in the early 1970s a US dollar was worth about a dollar and 6 cents Canadian
I love history I love this channel and I’m not sure what it is, but I really love your voice.
Love your videos my friend! Your awesome keep it up
I remember my grandad had a couple of these along with a few flying eagle cents and enough rolls steel pennies to retire on.
I've always liked the FE Cent.
It's almost a miniature, affordable, Gobrecht Dollar, sharing the obverse design feature.
02:30 - "The American Journal of Numismatics even described the Shield Nickel as the ugliest of all known coins."
_Allow me to introduce you to the Susan B. Anthony Dollar and her older brother, Ike._
Best single panel cartoon I ever saw: during the Iran hostage crisis. Ayatollah buried up to his chest in coins shaking his fist at an overhead B-52 with its bomb bay doors open. Peasant standing nest to the pile of coins holding one asking, "Who's Susan B. Anthony?" This worked on so many levels.
Thanks for doing more coin-related videos! So much historical intrigue there. You should definitely do a piece on the 1913 V nickels, starting with B Max Mehl's advertisement that he was buying them (when he already had all 5) and going through how one was lost and refound.
Quick correction: 3-cent nickels began mintage in 1865. (My favorite US coin design!) And we did have a 3-dollar gold coin (from 1854-1889), so there was some overlap, but apparently no racketeers pursued that line of fraud...
So true about Mehl.
I once had some of his and Stack's 'offers to buy' from the 1930s. As I recall, Stack's paid 65 cents each for Trade Dollars but only in groups of ten and if not chopmarked, filed, or scratched.
From what I've read, the Three Dollar never saw much circulation and were often saved as souvenirs or soldered to stickpins, hatpins, watch fobs.
I heard nickels used to have pictures of bees on them; "Gimme 5 bees for a quarter" you'd say
The U.S. has never issued a coin with a bee in its design.
* I've just 'Googled' it - fiction from an episode of The Simpsons.
Absolutely! that was back when bananas were called "yellow fatty beans".
@@BirchBarlow I believe that was the style at the time!
And the ferry to Morgansville, which is what they used to call Shelbyville in those days, cost a nickel back then
@@-oiiio-3993 Yes they did. They had bubble bees on them. And if you needed the heel on your shoe repaired, you put your bees together and took the ferry over to Shelbyville...
Great video! Thanks!
I have 3 1883 nickels in my collection. One is covered in a gold clad finish, this was a counterfeit version of the 5 gold dollar. The other 2 at in fine and extra fine condition. Thanks for this podcast, you are a national treasure.
A friend of mine suggested that I should watch this channel, and that friend was right to do so! I didn't know about "racketeer nickels" before today, but now, I know a lot more about it! Whether or not there was such a person as "Josh Tatum", these coin fraudsters were most certainly cunning in their transformation of nickels into "eagles". Thanks for the information! I've subscribed now!
Thank you ...very informative.
Great story, thanks!
And thus came the old saying..."Not worth a plugged nickel for...".
...this is why I check the comments before typing. You beat me to what I was going to say. 👍
@@pauld6967 lol...I grew up hearing my ole' dad saying this to us. It usually began "Boy, you're...for anything!!
@@SMichaelDeHart Yes, the phrase was commonplace where I grew up: the Midwest in the 1960's-70's.
@@pauld6967 same here in Appalachias of
southern West Virginia for me, same time.
My uncle always admonished me with "don't take any wooden nickels" when leaving.
Awesome video!!
More trivia: theres never been a US "penny", only "cent"s
Indeed:
The Coinage Act of 1792 established, among other things, a unique quasi - decimal system of United States coinage based on the Spanish Dollar, which enjoyed full legal tender status through 1857.
The U.S. Dollar was divided decimally as Cent (.01), Dime (0.10) Dollar (1.0) and Eagle (10.).
As the Spanish Dollar was divided into eight Reales, or 'bits', the U.S. Mint would include Half Dollar, Quarter Dollar, and Half Cent coins to accommodate ready exchange (One Real = twelve and a half cents).
A Half Dime was also included, as were Half and Quarter Eagle.
The coins originally specified and minted were:
Gold - Eagle (10.), Half Eagle (05.) Quarter Eagle (2.5)
Silver - Dollar
Subsidiary Silver - Half Dollar (.50), Quarter Dollar (.25), Dime (.10) Half Dime (.05)
Copper - Cent, Half Cent.
There was no provision for 'paper money' (currency).
Pennies were British.
Also added in
2 cent copper
3 cent nickel
3 cent dime Silver
20 Cent silver
You should tell the US mint webmaster. They have numerous pennies for sale.
@@timg5014 The U.S. Mint website contains several errors.
On a page detailing 'history of U.S. Coinage', for instance, it says the 1866 Five Cent 'Nickel' was the first coin to be minted of .75 Cu, .25 Ni, which it was not - that would be the 1865 Three Cent 'Nickel'.
The United States has never produced a Penny.
@@james4582 Yes, but none of those were included in the Act of 1792 and you neglected the Five Cent 'Nickel' as well as One, Three, and Twenty Dollar gold.
What you call a "3 cent dime silver' was actually called a 'trime' in common usage, and the "2 cent" was bronze. The last pure copper U.S. coins were the 1857 Cent and Half Cent.
U.S. coinage denominations (regular issue) added after the original Coinage Act of 1792, with dates of introduction:
1849 - One Dollar Gold
1850 - Twenty Dollar Gold
1851 - Three Cent Silver
1854 - Three Dollar Gold
1864 - Two Cent Bronze
1865 - Three Cent 'Nickel'
1866 - Five Cent 'Nickel'
1875 - Twenty Cent
Half Cent discontinued 1857.
Cent changed composition to .88 Cu, .12 Ni in 1857, bronze 1864, zinc 1982.
Gold coinage discontinued 1933.
Standard Silver coinage discontinued 1964, Dime and Quarter Dollar changed to 'copper nickel clad', Half Dollar 40% 'silver clad' 1965 - 1970, CN clad thereafter.
Dollar changed to CN clad 1971, size reduced 1979, manganese brass 2000 to present.
Trade Dollar of 1873 - 1884 not intended for domestic commerce.
Various commemorative and special issues have been produced since 1892.
Lance, i LOVE your videos and am impressed with how they have evolved into an amazingly professional product but, i suometimes long for the "old days" when you didnt have the fancy production on the intro and extro...
those intro graphics are still enjoyable :)
Interesting as always.
I'm one of the few people I know that has a book on Shield nickels, lol. The nickel alloy was so tough it wore out dies like crazy, there are innumerable examples of error coins in the series, I have quite a few myself. 😁
The nickel alloys were rather tough on dies. I have somewhere an 1865 3c 'Nickel' with a large cud (die chip).
Not only was the 75% copper , 25% nickel alloy of the Three Cent (1865 - 1872) and Five Cent 'Nickels' problematic, but the 88% copper 12% nickel alloy used for Cents from 1857 through mid 1864 gave the mint fits. The alloy was often not amalgamous with many examples showing light and dark 'streaks', voids, flakes.
I III and V (also X) make me think of the army denominations from the game Risk when I was a kid. I still think that those worked the best compared to more recent changes.
I came from the era when the pieces were made of wood
What this country needs is a good V cent cigar.
A quote from Woodrow Wilson's veep.
Well played.
Size... Reminds me of the Susan B. Anthony dollar. History repeats itself.
I still have a stack of those.
Vending machines at work spit those out as change once in a while, I got a little stash of them just from the last 5 years or so.
@@kevinlesch9656 The current 'Golden Dollars' (2007 - ) are the same size and fit the same vending machines.
The SBA Dollar mirrored rather closely the same series of errors that had been made with the Twenty Cent silver coin issued from 1875 - 1878.
It was a coin that nobody seemed to want but the lobbyists who pushed for it.
@@-oiiio-3993 Ayuh. Seems like there’s a fair amount of that going on. The presidential series, the Sacajawea‘s. I heard that there is some sort of legal mandate that requires they be struck? Then they just sort of hang around until they age of the system and get destroyed or somesuch thing. Bureaucracy strikes again!
Very well done and researched. Josh Tatum is indeed a fabrication. It is worth confirming that one can buy a very nice high grade 1883 NO CENTS nickel for less than $20, but the 1883 WITH CENTS nickel is much rarer in higher grades.
I could add to this but maybe the History family could do a podcast about counterfeiting
Best way to start my week
Most educational sir. Thanx
Thnx for putting in your 2 cents worth on this subject.
The Two Cent Bronze was minted from 1864 through 1873.
It was the first coin to bear the motto, _"In God We Trust"._
excellent discussion of a simple subject and bureau that can't relate to the real world
Counterfeiters will always try to stay ahead of governments and big business. Just the way it is.
I've just begun working on the V nickels part of my coin collection. Managed to get most, all except for the key dates, and this one. But, am working on it!
Cautionary tale for store clerks everywhere. 💰💰
As a early teen, 13-14, coin collector I remember getting steel WW2 pennies from time to time as late as about 1965, have you done a episode on them?
I remember that as well, they were Cents, minted on zinc plated steel planchets 1943 only. Pennies were British.
The Five Cent 'Nickel' composition was also changed in mid - 1942 to a 56%copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese alloy. The Denver Mint issued only the usual 75% copper, 25% alloy coins in 1942, Philadelphia switched to the silver alloy mid year, and all 1942 San Francisco ''Nickels', as well as all Five Cent 'Nickels' issued 1943 through 1945 were of the silver alloy.
The United States has never issued a Penny.
The Coinage Act of 1792 established, among other things, a unique quasi - decimal system of United States coinage based on the Spanish Dollar, which enjoyed full legal tender status through 1857.
The U.S. Dollar was divided decimally as Cent (.01), Dime (0.10) Dollar (1.0) and Eagle (10.).
As the Spanish Dollar was divided into eight Reales, or 'bits', the U.S. Mint would include Half Dollar, Quarter Dollar, and Half Cent coins to accommodate ready exchange (One Real = twelve and a half cents).
A Half Dime was also included, as were Half and Quarter Eagle.
The coins originally specified and minted were:
Gold - Eagle (10.), Half Eagle (05.) Quarter Eagle (2.5)
Silver - Dollar
Subsidiary Silver - Half Dollar (.50), Quarter Dollar (.25), Dime (.10) Half Dime (.05)
Copper - Cent, Half Cent.
There was no provision for 'paper money' (currency).
Can’t say I’m surprised about Americans keeping gold and silver coins to combat monetary inflation (and the subsequent issue of fiat currency), but was never expecting the inception of “Nickelodeon” to be here too! Thank you for sharing, super cool!
Fascinating. Thank you.
Will coins soon be obsolete and extinct? I almost always watch THG on TV, where one can't comment. So today I'm making the rounds to like everything I've seen. I love everything about The History Guy. The episodes are accurate, thorough, educational, and entertaining.
“If I had a nickel for every… Oh wait.”
That was an excellent story!
Thank you for your time.
In 1943 all nickels were minted with silver to increase the amount of Nickel available for the war effort. Each of these coins had a prominent mint mark on the reverse right above the Monticello engraving. I once found one of these coins without any mint mark and it puzzled me for ages. I finally took it to a coin dealership and with some research we found that it was indeed a forgery.
The 'Silver War Nickels' were introduced in 1942 and ran through 1945.
There were 'nickel' and 'silver' issues from Philadelphia in 1942, all 1942D were 'nickel' (the standard .75 copper, .25 nickel as used since 1866) and all 1942S were the silver alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese as were all 1943 through 1945 issues.
As you've stated, the silver alloy coins had the large mint mark over Monticello's dome and occasioned the first use of a (P) mintmark for Philadelphia.
Love the content
I have one of these Liberty Nickels! It is very worn and I found it on the shore of the lake in my town after a rainstorm
Townsends recently did a Livestream and some prerecorded videos about currency. In the last Livestream someone suggested you do a crossover appearance as a guest on that channel. I think that sounds like a grand idea.
Always intriguing
YAY!!!! Thank you thank you thank you! I loooove your stories about coins and you found GREAT pictures for this one.
Can you do a part II on the 1913 Liberty Head as part of a piece on "Coins Never Meant For The Public"?
Again: thank you
Pattern coins are a fascinating field of study.
Many are quite beautiful.
@@-oiiio-3993 Mr. Smithers collects them for Mr. Burns. He has some of the first patterns with bumble bees on them.
@@joanbennettnyc Perhaps you could visit Mr. Smithers and view them.
Felix The Cat will drive you there.
Meanwhile, some people are here to learn actual history and facts.
@@-oiiio-3993 soooo ... you watched The Simpsons this week, right? What'd'ya think? Fun, huh?
@@joanbennettnyc No, I did not.
Yes, they are.
Good video, thanks.