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5 Cents 'Jefferson Wartime Nickel' 1st portrait
| Issuer | United States Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central depiction of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's neoclassical Virginia estate, rendered in three-quarter perspective view with steps and columned portico prominent in the design. The building is set within the central field with the inscription MONTICELLO directly below. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcs around the upper periphery, while FIVE CENTS appears along the lower border. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed above the central device, and a large mint mark letter (P, D, or S) appears above the dome of Monticello, a distinctive feature introduced for wartime issues to facilitate identification of the silver alloy composition. |
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| Mintage | 1942 P - - 57,873,000 1942 P - Proof - 27,600 1942 S - - 32,900,000 1943 D - - 15,294,000 1943 P - - 271,165,000 1943 P - Doubled-Die Obverse - 1943 S - - 104,060,000 1944 D - - 32,309,000 1944 P - - 119,150,000 1944 S - - 21,640,000 1945 D - - 37,158,000 1945 P - - 119,408,100 1945 P - Doubled Die Reverse - 1945 S - - 58,939,000 |
| Additional information |
Nickel was pulled from the five-cent piece in mid-1942 not as a wartime sacrifice but as a strategic necessity — the metal was critical for armor plating and industrial machinery, and the War Production Board moved quickly. The replacement alloy of copper, silver, and manganese was chosen partly because it could be detected by coin-operated machinery of the period, and partly because the Treasury had silver reserves it could actually draw on. To prevent hoarding, the mint mark was enlarged and moved above the dome — the only time in U.S. coinage history a Philadelphia issue received a mint mark, appearing as a large "P."