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Last updated: August 12, 2026 · By White Metal Resources Editorial
Quick answer: War nickels are five-cent coins struck by the U.S. Mint from mid-1942 through 1945 in a 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, 9 percent manganese alloy. Each coin holds about 0.05626 troy ounces of silver.
The tell is a large P, D, or S mint mark over the dome of Monticello on the reverse. That large mint mark position is the fastest way to sort war nickels out of a jar of regular Jefferson nickels.
At an illustrative 30 dollars per troy ounce, the silver in one war nickel is worth about 1.69 dollars. A standard roll of 40 war nickels holds about 2.25 troy ounces of silver, or about 67.52 dollars at that same example price.
Short on time? The essentials
- War nickels were struck from October 1942 through 1945 to conserve nickel metal for wartime industry. Nickel was used in armor plate and other critical war material.
- The wartime composition is 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, and 9 percent manganese. Total coin weight stayed at 5.000 grams and the diameter at 21.21 millimeters.
- The silver content per coin is 1.75 grams, which equals 0.05626 troy ounces of silver. That figure is the actual silver weight, sometimes called ASW.
- A standard roll of 40 nickels holds 40 times that number, or about 2.2506 troy ounces of silver, at a face value of 2.00 dollars per roll.
- The visual tell is a large mint mark over the dome of Monticello on the reverse. The mint marks used are P for Philadelphia, D for Denver, and S for San Francisco.
- The P mint mark on the 1942 through 1945 war nickel was the first time the Philadelphia Mint ever put its own mark on a United States coin. Regular pre-war Philadelphia nickels carry no mint mark.
- Early 1942 nickels come in two versions. The pre-war 1942 nickel is the standard 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel alloy with no mint mark or a small D. The wartime 1942 nickel is 35 percent silver with a large P or S over Monticello.
- Standard nickel composition (75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel) resumed with the 1946 date. Nickels struck from 1946 onward hold no silver.
- Melt value at an illustrative 30 dollars per troy ounce is about 1.69 dollars per single war nickel and about 67.52 dollars per roll of 40. Face value of the roll is 2.00 dollars.
- Most war nickels in circulation today are worn or corroded because the copper-silver-manganese alloy tarnishes faster than standard nickel. Circulated common examples trade close to melt.
- War nickels do not qualify for a self-directed IRA. Silver held for retirement follows a separate fineness rule covered in our silver IRA fineness reference.
The war nickel is a small but honest piece of American coinage history. It looks like a regular Jefferson nickel from a couple of feet away, but the alloy inside is very different. For four years, the U.S. Mint replaced part of the coin's nickel with silver, and a saver holding a jar of change today may still find a few of them.
This page walks through the composition line-by-line, prices the silver at three example spot prices, and explains the visible mint mark tell that separates a war nickel from a regular Jefferson. The aim is a single reference for anyone holding coins or a partial roll and asking what the pile is actually worth.
What war nickels are, in one paragraph
War nickels are five-cent coins struck by the U.S. Mint from mid-October 1942 through 1945. They carry the Jefferson obverse and Monticello reverse designed by Felix Schlag, the same designs used on regular nickels of the era. The wartime coins are not made of the normal copper-nickel alloy. They are struck in a copper-silver-manganese alloy, at a total weight of 5.000 grams, matching the pre-war coin's weight so vending machines and coin sorters did not need adjustment.
Because the silver content matters for melt value, this page uses the alloy weight percentages published by the Mint. Every dollar figure on the page is a computation from a stated silver spot price, not a live quote and not a forecast.
Why the Mint put silver in a nickel during the war
Nickel metal became a strategic war material after the United States entered World War II. It was used in armor plate for tanks and ships, in stainless steel for aircraft engines, and in other industrial alloys the war effort needed in large volume. Congress and the Mint looked for a way to free up nickel from coinage without disrupting the country's payment system.
The plan came together in early 1942. On March 27, 1942, Congress authorized the Mint to remove nickel from the five-cent coin (source: Jefferson nickel wartime composition history, Wikipedia summary of Mint records). The first wartime nickels rolled off the presses in mid-October 1942 after the alloy was finalized and vending-machine testing confirmed the new coins worked in existing equipment.
The alloy chosen was 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, and 9 percent manganese. The manganese was added to match the electrical properties of the pre-war coin so vending machines would still accept it. Silver was chosen because it kept the coin heavy and the mint had enough on hand from Treasury reserves.
The wartime composition ran through the end of 1945. Standard 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel composition resumed with the 1946 date. Nickels struck from 1946 forward contain no silver at all.
The 35 percent silver composition, in plain terms
The phrase "35 percent silver" describes the whole coin, not a layer or a plating. A war nickel is a homogeneous alloy: every point inside the coin is roughly 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, and 9 percent manganese by weight. There is no core and no cladding.
The math for silver content is straightforward. A war nickel weighs 5.000 grams. Multiply by 35 percent and the silver weight is 1.75 grams. Divide 1.75 by 31.1035 grams per troy ounce and the result is 0.05626 troy ounces of silver per coin. That number is the actual silver weight, or ASW, used by refiners and coin dealers.
For context, a war nickel holds about 1.75 grams of silver, which is roughly the same amount of silver as an old three-cent silver coin from the 1850s. It is a small amount by bullion standards, but at any spot price above a few dollars per ounce it is worth more than the coin's five-cent face value.
The large mint mark over Monticello, the field tell
The large mint mark above Monticello is the fastest visual identifier of a war nickel. On regular pre-war and post-war Jefferson nickels, the mint mark (if any) sits small, to the right of the Monticello building on the reverse. On war nickels, the Mint deliberately moved the mark to a large, high position above the dome so the coins could be pulled from circulation after the war.
Three mint marks appear on war nickels. P stands for Philadelphia, D stands for Denver, and S stands for San Francisco. All three sit large and centered above the dome of Monticello on the reverse of the coin.
The P mint mark on war nickels carries a historical footnote. From 1942 to 1945, the wartime nickel was the first United States coin ever struck at Philadelphia that carried a mint mark. Regular Philadelphia coinage before 1980 carried no mint mark at all. The oversized P over Monticello was a wartime signal, not a permanent policy change.
If a Jefferson nickel shows no mint mark, or a small D to the right of Monticello, and the date is 1938 to early 1942 or 1946 through 1964, it is a regular copper-nickel coin with no silver. If a Jefferson nickel shows a large P, D, or S above Monticello and the date is 1942 through 1945, it is a war nickel with 0.05626 troy ounces of silver.
Which dates are war nickels, including the split 1942
Any 1943, 1944, or 1945 Jefferson nickel is a war nickel. The Mint used the copper-silver-manganese alloy for the entire mintage in those three years, at all three active mints. There is no non-silver 1943, 1944, or 1945 Jefferson nickel.
The 1942 date is split into two distinct versions, and this is where most confusion shows up. Regular pre-war 1942 nickels were struck from January through October 1942. They are 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel with no silver, and they carry either no mint mark (Philadelphia) or a small D (Denver).
Wartime 1942 nickels were struck from mid-October 1942 through the end of the year. They are 35 percent silver with either a large P above Monticello (Philadelphia) or a large S above Monticello (San Francisco). The 1942 date is the only year where both compositions exist, and the mint mark position is the fastest way to tell them apart.
Any Jefferson nickel dated 1946 or later is a regular copper-nickel coin. Those coins hold no silver, regardless of mint mark or condition. The wartime silver alloy was a temporary substitution for four years only.
Silver content per coin and per roll
The chart below plots the silver content of a single war nickel next to two neighboring coins. Regular Jefferson nickels (pre-war or post-war) hold zero silver. War nickels hold 0.05626 troy ounces of silver per coin. A pre-1965 90 percent silver dime, shown for comparison, holds 0.07234 troy ounces.
Coin dealers usually quote war nickels by the roll rather than one coin at a time. A standard nickel roll holds 40 coins at a face value of 2.00 dollars. That works out to 40 times 0.05626, or 2.2506 troy ounces of silver per full roll of war nickels.
Bags of war nickels appear in bullion trade too. A common bag size is 500 dollars in face value, which equals 10,000 nickels or 250 rolls. A full bag holds 562.6 troy ounces of silver at the same 0.05626 troy ounces per coin.
The melt math, priced against example spot prices
Melt value is a computation, not a quote. It equals the coin's actual silver content in troy ounces multiplied by the silver spot price of the day. Any published "melt value calculator" is running the same arithmetic, and the number moves minute to minute as spot silver changes.
For a single war nickel, the formula is 0.05626 multiplied by the spot price per troy ounce. The table below shows the result at three example spot prices: 20 dollars per ounce, 30 dollars per ounce, and 40 dollars per ounce. The same three prices are shown for a roll of 40 nickels and for a 500-dollar face-value bag.
| Unit | Silver content | Melt at 20 dollars per ounce | Melt at 30 dollars per ounce | Melt at 40 dollars per ounce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single war nickel | 0.05626 troy ounces | 1.13 dollars | 1.69 dollars | 2.25 dollars |
| Roll of 40 war nickels | 2.2506 troy ounces | 45.01 dollars | 67.52 dollars | 90.02 dollars |
| Bag of 500 dollars face (10,000 coins) | 562.6 troy ounces | 11,252 dollars | 16,878 dollars | 22,504 dollars |
Sources: standard 5.000 gram Jefferson nickel weight per U.S. Mint composition records; 35 percent silver by weight per Coinage Act amendment of March 27, 1942. Melt values are computed as troy ounces multiplied by an example silver spot price. Spot prices are examples, not quotes. Checked August 2026.
To price a war nickel against the real market on a given day, replace 30 with the live silver spot price from a public quote source. Then multiply that spot price by 0.05626 for a single coin, by 2.2506 for a roll of 40, or by 562.6 for a bag of 500 dollars face value. The five-cent face value of the coin is irrelevant to the melt.
A worked example on a roll of 40 war nickels
Consider an inheritor who finds a paper-wrapped roll of 40 nickels tucked into a parent's coin box. Every coin in the roll shows a date between 1942 and 1945 and a large P, D, or S over Monticello. The paper wrapper reads "NICKELS 2.00" and the face value of the roll is 2.00 dollars.
The math for the roll walks through as follows.
- Silver content per coin, war nickel: 0.05626 troy ounces of silver.
- Silver content of the full roll: 0.05626 multiplied by 40 coins equals 2.2506 troy ounces of silver.
- Illustrative silver spot price for the example: 30 dollars per troy ounce.
- Illustrative melt value of the roll: 2.2506 troy ounces multiplied by 30 dollars per ounce equals 67.52 dollars in silver content per roll. Real dealer buy price is usually a few percentage points below the pure melt calculation because the dealer takes a spread on the transaction.
- Illustrative sale figure at melt spread, assuming a dealer pays 90 percent of melt: 0.90 multiplied by 67.52 equals 60.77 dollars. Real spreads vary by dealer, region, and volume. Some dealers pay closer to melt on large orders and further below melt on single-roll walk-ins.
Substitute a different spot price to reprice the roll. At 25 dollars per ounce the melt is 56.27 dollars. At 35 dollars per ounce the melt is 78.77 dollars. At 40 dollars per ounce the melt is 90.02 dollars. The face value of 2.00 dollars is only relevant if a saver ever decides to spend the coins as legal tender, which almost never makes financial sense.
Figures are illustrative, not a quote from any specific dealer and not a promise of future silver prices. Spot prices are examples, not forecasts. This is not tax or investment advice. Consult a licensed advisor for personal decisions.
The scale on a bag makes the same math easier to see. A 500-dollar face-value bag holds 250 rolls, or 10,000 coins, or 562.6 troy ounces of silver. At an illustrative 30 dollars per ounce, that bag holds 16,878 dollars in silver, and dealer buy prices sit a few percent below that figure.
A five step check for a war nickel in hand
The steps below turn the general rules into a repeatable check for a single coin. Follow the same five steps for every Jefferson nickel in a jar and no war nickel will get sorted into the copper-nickel pile.
- Read the date on the obverse. The obverse is the face with the profile of President Jefferson. If the date is 1943, 1944, or 1945, the coin is a war nickel. If the date is 1942, continue to step two before deciding. If the date is 1938 through early 1942 or 1946 through 1964, the coin is a regular copper-nickel Jefferson with no silver.
- Turn the coin over and look above Monticello. The reverse is the face with the picture of Jefferson's home. On a war nickel, a large letter P, D, or S sits above the dome of Monticello. On a regular Jefferson, that space is empty; the mint mark (if any) sits small, to the right of the building.
- Confirm the date and mint mark match a war nickel. A large mint mark over Monticello combined with a 1942, 1943, 1944, or 1945 date confirms a war nickel. A large mint mark over Monticello combined with any other date is either an error, a counterfeit, or a coin that has been altered.
- Weigh the coin if condition is very poor. A kitchen scale that reads to the hundredth of a gram is enough. A well-preserved war nickel weighs about 5.00 grams. Heavy wear or corrosion may drop the weight by a tenth of a gram, but a coin that reads under 4.5 grams may not be a war nickel and warrants a closer look.
- Compute the silver content from the count. Multiply the number of confirmed war nickels by 0.05626 troy ounces per coin. The result is the total actual silver weight of the group. Multiply that number by the current silver spot price to get an illustrative melt value.
Anyone comfortable with the five steps can sort a mixed jar of Jefferson nickels into war and non-war piles in a single sitting. The same date-plus-mint-mark logic applies to the 1942 through 1945 range without exception.
Condition reality: why most war nickels look rough
Most war nickels found in circulation today are heavily worn or visibly corroded. Three factors combined to leave the surviving population in poor condition, and any saver holding a jar of them should know why the coins usually look tired.
The first factor is the alloy itself. Copper-silver-manganese tarnishes more aggressively than copper-nickel, especially when stored loose in humid conditions. Many surviving war nickels show a dark, mottled surface tone the coin collecting community calls "war nickel toning."
The second factor is time in circulation. The coins were struck seventy to eighty years ago and spent decades in cash registers, coin machines, and pockets before being pulled aside. Even coins that never entered heavy circulation show the softer strike detail typical of wartime production, when die pressure was reduced to keep the presses running.
The third factor is bulk handling. As silver prices rose in the late 1970s and again in the 2000s, savers and dealers pulled war nickels from circulation in bulk. Coins were counted, bagged, and shipped in ways that did not preserve individual condition. Most surviving pieces are treated as bullion first and as coins second.
The practical result is that a common circulated war nickel prices at or near melt. A well-preserved uncirculated example of a common date carries a small premium. A gem uncirculated example of a scarcer date can carry a larger premium, but such coins are the exception.
Collector premiums, where they do and do not appear
The default for a 1942 through 1945 war nickel is to trade close to melt. There are three narrower situations where a premium over melt appears. Numismatic pricing changes constantly, so these are stated as qualitative tiers rather than specific dollar figures.
The first situation is a high-grade uncirculated example of a specific date and mint mark. A gem uncirculated 1943-D or 1944-P war nickel can trade at a modest premium over melt because well-preserved examples of those dates are relatively hard to find. The premium reflects surviving population in high grades, not the silver content, which is identical across every war nickel.
The second situation is a proof strike from 1942. The Mint struck a small number of proof war nickels in 1942 with the new silver alloy for collectors, before proof production paused for the rest of the war. A genuine 1942 silver proof nickel with the large P mint mark carries a strong collector premium over an equivalent business strike.
The third situation is a well-known variety or error. The 1943-P 3-over-2 overdate, where a 2 was repunched with a 3 in the date, is a recognized variety with real collector demand. Documented overdates and doubled-die varieties from the war nickel run price above common examples.
Any dealer pitching a common circulated 1942 through 1945 war nickel at multiples of melt price, framed as a rare investment coin, is running a script the underlying market does not support. The Federal Trade Commission has published general consumer guidance on inflated pricing in "rare" and "historic" coin sales (source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Investing in Bullion and Bullion Coins).
The default check is to price the coin against melt first. Treat any premium above that as a claim the seller has to justify, ideally against a recent completed auction sale of a coin in the same date, mint mark, and grade.
War nickel specifications, single-page reference
The table below rolls up every specification a saver or dealer usually needs on a war nickel. The pre-war and post-war Jefferson nickel is shown alongside so the composition break stands out clearly.
| Era | Composition | Weight | Diameter | Mint mark position | Silver per coin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-war (1938 to early 1942) | 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel | 5.000 grams | 21.21 mm | Right of Monticello, small (D only, none for P) | None |
| War nickel (mid-1942 through 1945) | 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, 9 percent manganese | 5.000 grams | 21.21 mm | Above Monticello, large (P, D, or S) | 0.05626 troy ounces |
| Post-war (1946 through 1964) | 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel | 5.000 grams | 21.21 mm | Right of Monticello, small (D or S only, none for P) | None |
| Modern (1965 through present, circulation) | 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel | 5.000 grams | 21.21 mm | Obverse near date, varies by year | None |
Sources: U.S. Mint composition records for the Jefferson nickel; Coinage Act amendment authorizing the wartime alloy on March 27, 1942; standard 5.000 gram Jefferson nickel weight and 21.21 mm diameter across all eras. Checked August 2026.
Only the second row of the table describes a war nickel. Every other row describes a regular copper-nickel Jefferson that holds no silver, regardless of date, mint mark, or condition. The mint mark position is the fastest visual clue that separates a war nickel from the rest of the series.
Limits and caveats to keep in mind
Every melt figure on this page is a computation from a stated silver spot price, not a quote from a dealer and not a forecast. Silver prices move continuously during market hours, and the number that fits a specific day belongs on that day only. Any dollar figure here uses example spot prices of 20, 30, or 40 dollars per troy ounce, picked as clean round numbers rather than as predictions of any future price.
Dealer buy prices sit below melt by design. Any commercial buyer needs a spread on the transaction to cover assay, sorting, shipping, insurance, and margin. A single-roll walk-in usually sees a wider spread than a large lot delivered on a shipped order. Buyers should call two or three local coin dealers and compare quotes on the same day, then decide whether the spread justifies the sale.
Face value and legal tender status do not affect melt. A war nickel remains legal tender at five cents, and a store is required to accept it as such. Spending the coin as legal tender is almost never the right call at any recent silver price, because the silver content alone runs many times the face value.
Collectible and numismatic premiums are qualitative on this page, not quantitative. Real market prices for specific dates, mint marks, grades, and varieties depend on published price guides and completed auction sales. Anyone selling an unusual example should check current listings against completed sales on public marketplaces before quoting a premium.
War nickels do not qualify for a self-directed IRA. Silver held for retirement follows a separate fineness rule that we cover in the silver IRA fineness explainer. The coins are still fine to own personally, in any quantity, at any time.
War nickel questions, answered
Are all 1942 to 1945 Jefferson nickels silver?
Almost, but not quite. Every 1943, 1944, and 1945 Jefferson nickel is a silver war nickel. The 1942 date is split: pre-war 1942 nickels struck before mid-October 1942 are the standard copper-nickel alloy with no silver, while wartime 1942 nickels struck from mid-October through the end of the year are 35 percent silver. The large mint mark over Monticello identifies the silver version.
How much silver is in a war nickel?
Each war nickel holds 0.05626 troy ounces of silver, or about 1.75 grams. Total coin weight is 5.000 grams, of which 35 percent is silver, 56 percent is copper, and 9 percent is manganese. Total diameter is 21.21 millimeters, the same as a regular Jefferson nickel.
What is a war nickel worth today?
The melt value equals the silver content multiplied by the day's spot silver price. At an illustrative 30 dollars per troy ounce, a single war nickel holds about 1.69 dollars in silver, and a roll of 40 holds about 67.52 dollars. Substitute the current spot price to reprice. Most circulated common-date war nickels trade close to melt at bullion dealers, minus a small dealer spread.
Why is the mint mark so large on a war nickel?
The Mint made the mint mark large and moved it above Monticello so the wartime coins could be pulled from circulation after the war ended. The wartime alloy tarnishes differently from the standard alloy, and the Treasury wanted a visual signal that would let banks and coin sorters separate the silver coins from the regular copper-nickel coins if needed.
Did the Philadelphia Mint really put a P on the war nickel?
Yes. The wartime 1942 to 1945 nickel was the first United States coin ever to carry a P mint mark for Philadelphia. Before that, Philadelphia coins carried no mint mark by default. The P over Monticello was a wartime-only marking, and Philadelphia coins returned to no mint mark from 1946 until 1980.
How can I tell a war nickel from a regular Jefferson nickel?
Check the date first. A 1943, 1944, or 1945 Jefferson nickel is always a war nickel. A 1942 nickel is a war nickel only if it has a large P or S above Monticello. Any 1946 or later Jefferson nickel is a regular copper-nickel coin. The large mint mark over Monticello is the fastest visual tell.
Can war nickels go into a precious metals IRA?
No. The Internal Revenue Code sets the fineness minimum for IRA silver at .999, referenced to the delivery standard of a regulated futures contract. A war nickel sits at .350 fineness, far below that line. The coins can be held personally without restriction, but they cannot sit inside a self-directed IRA.
Is it better to sell war nickels or to hold them?
That decision depends on personal cash needs, the current silver spot price, and the buyer's dealer spread. Selling makes sense if the saver needs the cash or wants to consolidate into a different silver product. Holding makes sense if the saver has time and space to store the coins and prefers a physical silver position. The math is straightforward either way and does not need a hurried decision.
Sources
- Jefferson nickel wartime composition and mint mark history, Wikipedia summary of U.S. Mint composition records (56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, 9 percent manganese for mid-1942 through 1945). Checked August 2026.
- United States Mint, Nickel program page (Jefferson nickel history and specifications). Checked August 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Investing in Bullion and Bullion Coins. Checked August 2026.
- FINRA, Investment Fraud: Precious Metals (general precious metals fraud guidance for retail buyers). Checked August 2026.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, 26 U.S.C. section 408 (silver fineness rule for IRA metals, referenced for the IRA-eligibility answer). Checked August 2026.
