War Nickel

[RichW]

I dug a war nickel the other day with my Deus. When I went over it I was sure it was a dime. Same tone and an almost identical read out. Brought it home air tested it and still the same tone and number. All the war nickels I've recovered in the past are down in the pull tab range. Anyone else dig a war nickel that rings up high like this. Wondering what's the deal with this one?

 

[Ronstar]

On my Fisher F5 they come up in the number range as nickel but a higher number value (just under the tab number break).

 

[Missouri -- Ma Betty]

I dug a war nickel the other day with my Deus. When I went over it I was sure it was a dime. Same tone and an almost identical read out. Brought it home air tested it and still the same tone and number. All the war nickels I've recovered in the past are down in the pull tab range. Anyone else dig a war nickel that rings up high like this. Wondering what's the deal with this one?

Maybe because it may have been shallower in the soil for its silver content to ring up higher or even the soil condition changed the reading? Just a guess! Ma

 

[squirrel1]

I dug a war nickel the other day with my Deus. When I went over it I was sure it was a dime. Same tone and an almost identical read out. Brought it home air tested it and still the same tone and number. All the war nickels I've recovered in the past are down in the pull tab range. Anyone else dig a war nickel that rings up high like this. Wondering what's the deal with this one?

I dug a war nickel some 7 years ago p, using Etrac it rang up like copper penny in the ground. Not that deep either at old home site. After digging it read as a regular nickel reads,,12-13 ID.
So what caused?
Imo the alloys on some war nickels not as uniform, hence higher readings possible. Just a guess.

 

[RichW]

That is what I was thinking squirrel1 . The readout and tone never varies. I've air tested and buried it several times, always the same.

 

[squirrel1]

Would make a good video.

 

[tometusns]

War nickels are very inconsistent on numbers. All the way from reg nickel numbers to like the one you just found.

 

[UtahRich]

War nickels are very inconsistent on numbers. All the way from reg nickel numbers to like the one you just found.

I agree with this. A few years ago, somebody on the Dankowski forum was collecting info from the other detectorists about inconsistencies in the alloy / make up of the 'silver' war nickels. Seems that some war nickels ID'd much different than the norm. I had some outlyers (nothing crazy high) in my collection of war nickels as did others that contributed to the post.

If you're interested, you can do a search there for more information.

Rich -

 

[tometusns]

Thanks Rich,
There are some interesting theories as to why they exist. I'm with you on just simply inconsistencies in the alloy.
I had never found one of the high number war nickels until last year. I was sure proud of it. lol. This month I found another one, 24-25 on the Equinox. It's neat when you see a nickel pop out of a hole with penny/dime numbers. Congrats on finding one you're now in the high number war nickel club. Lol. Tom

 

[RichW]

Perhaps it had something to do with the manganese or lack of ? (supposedly 9%). I think I read somewhere manganese is a poor conductor. If the mint ran low or ran out of manganese maybe some nickel batches were mostly copper/silver ?

 

[tometusns]

Sorry guys I got a little mixed up... Congrats RichW on finding one and Rich (Utah) I hope you get that high number nickel surprise soon.

 

[RichW]

No problem, thanks for your input