ResearchUnited States World War Two Coinage
Not all coin collectors go by series or denominations, or even countries. One such field of collecting goes by era - specifically the years of 1942 to 1945, the crescendo of World War Two.
Much of history and the spirit of the times can be determined from the currency of this time. The Canadian nickel, for instance, sported from 1943 to 1945 the "Victory" design on it's reverse, with a Morse code pattern around the edge spelling out "WE WIN WHEN WE WORK WILLINGLY". The US mint also took the precaution of stamping the word "Hawaii" on the backs of dollar bills issued in the South Pacific. The reasoning was that, should the Japanese forces take Hawaii, the currency which would fall into their hands could be deemed worthless at a moment's notice. "Click", it's not money anymore!
The most striking variation in US coinage of this time is the penny. Due to the wartime need of copper for ammunition and other military equipment during World War Two, the US Mint researched various ways to limit dependence and meet conservation goals on copper usage. After trying out several substitutes to replace the copper-bronze alloy, it was minted in zinc-plated steel. This produced the strikingly different "steelies" of 1943. The only circulated US coin to be magnetic, uncirculated steelies looked more like dimes, however when handled they quickly rusted into an almost unidentifiable mess.
Later, the Mint developed a process where salvaged brass shell-casings were augmented with pure copper to produce an alloy more like an original penny. In 1945 the Mint began withdrawing steel cents from circulation and sending them to the San Francisco Mint where the coins were dumped into the Pacific Ocean - helping to increase the value of these coins already in the hands of collectors!
Due to shortage of able-bodied labor during the war years, US Mints were often staffed with half-trained emergency replacements, which led to many errors. The 1942 Mercury dime is famous for having an overstamped date, with the "2" stamped over the "1". These specimens on which the error is clearly seen are worth thousands! The 1943 copper pennies - minted in error during the change-over from copper to steel - are another fantastically valuable piece, with 40 believed to exist; these trade hands in the tens of thousands. And finally, after the change-over in 1944 from zinc-plated steel back to copper, a few pennies were also made mistakenly with the steel composition. Even the quarters had their share of double-die errors, for years 1942 and 1943, a treasure of a find which can be worth hundreds.
Nickels also got their share of fiddling. Their composition in 1944 and 1945 was changed to 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. As soon as the war was over and the price of silver rose, these nickels were pulled from circulation.
The Walking Liberty design half-dollar alone saw no changes during this time. And as a side note, if you see "war time" silver dollars, remind the seller that no dollar coins in the US were minted between the years 1935 and 1971. The rest of the collection from this era, however, stands forever as a testimony to the historical intrigue of this landmark time in history.