USA - Silver War Nickel - 1944-S - PCGS MS-66 - GEM BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED!

Description

During World War II, the Jefferson Nickel series underwent a significant change. Since nickel was identified as a strategic metal for the war effort, the composition of the five cent piece was changed to a composition of 35% silver, 9% manganese, and 56% copper. The Silver War Nickels were minted from 1942 to 1945. Production of the first “Wartime Nickels” began at the Philadelphia Mint on October 8, 1942. Earlier in the year nickels had been produced with their standard compositions. To identify the coins struck with the new composition, a large sized mint mark was placed on the reverse of the coins, above Monticello. The mintmarks “P”, “D”, or “S” were used for the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. Notably, this was the first time that a mint mark had been used for coins produced in Philadelphia.