A 5-cent coin struck on a wrong metal planchet - a possibly unique 1944-P Jefferson 5-cent coin struck on a copper-nickel planchet - is currently consigned to Heritage Numismatic Auctions' upcoming Atlanta ANA Signature Sale, scheduled for Aug. 6-11 in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association Convention.
Due to the critical need for the metal in armament production for the war effort, the United States Mint removed nickel from 5-cent coins beginning Oct. 8, 1942. Before this change, the composition was 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel. From late 1942 through December 1945, the Mint used an alloy of 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver and 9 percent manganese for 5-cent coins (nickel-less "nickels").
However, at least one pre-war copper-nickel planchet apparently was struck between the Jefferson dies in 1944, resulting in the specimen to be offered at auction.
A simple production mistake - a misplaced pre-war planchet - may have resulted in the 1944-P Jefferson 5-cent coin on a copper-nickel planchet. According to Heritage Executive VP Greg Rohan, however, "The creation of the off-metal Jefferson nickel that we are offering in Atlanta is ... difficult to understand. One would think that all of the pre-war copper-nickel planchets had been disposed of by 1944, but apparently they weren't. At least one of these planchets found its way into a nickel press sometime in 1944, and this error coin is the result."
One of the easiest ways to distinguish Jefferson Wartime alloy coins is the style and location of their Mint marks. The Wartime 5-cent coin design has a large Mint mark above the dome of Monticello on the reverse. Prior to the Wartime alloy coins, and beginning again in 1946, the Mint marks were considerably smaller and located to the (viewer's) right of Monticello. Before the war and the change in alloy, no coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint had a P Mint mark.
Bob Korver, Heritage's director of auctions, notes, "The 2001 Guide Book (of United States Coins) states that nickels dated 1944 without the large Mint mark of the wartime issues are counterfeits. The error that we are offering in Atlanta, however, displays the large P Mint mark over the dome of Monticello, and it was definitely produced by the Philadelphia Mint with genuine dies. In addition, this coin has been certified by [Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America] as an off-metal error. The grade assigned is Very Fine 30, and it is interesting to note that this coin circulated for some time before it was recognized for the rarity that it is."
A related error, equally rare, is a 1942-S Jefferson 5-cent coin with the S Mint mark located in its pre-war position to the right of the image of Monticello, struck on a Wartime alloy planchet. That piece, listed in several references, may be unique.
Wrong planchet errors are not new and are created in several different ways, usually resulting in numerous examples. One famous example occurred at the Denver Mint in 1970 when a coil of clad metal strip intended for dime blanks was fed into a blanking press set up for quarter dollars. The better part of the coil went through before anyone noticed the mistake. The coins are the diameter of a quarter dollar and the thickness of a dime.
Wrong metal errors also exist, though with significantly fewer examples and comprising some of the more interesting Mint "mistakes." For instance, when the United States Mint switched from 90 percent silver stock to copper-nickel clad in 1965, a few silver planchets were accidentally used to strike coins with 1965 dates.
Perhaps the most publicized examples of wrong metal errors, and certainly examples familiar to both beginning collectors and advanced numismatists, are the 1943 copper and 1944 steel Lincoln cents. These wrong metal coins resulted from a few planchets leftover from previous year production fed into a coinage press (either deliberately or inadvertently).
Although some of the known specimens of these wrong planchet cents were likely produced in error, particularly those found in circulation, several pieces surfaced in the collections of former United States Mint employees or the friends of officials, prompting speculation as to whether the coins were deliberately struck.
