Nickel was used to harden steel for uses like tank armor and anti-aircraft guns. In spring 1942, Congress ordered the US Mint to remove all nickel from the five cent coin (originally 75% copper and 25% nickel). 1915.Ĭollections of Hawai'i State Archives, Photograph Collection, PPWD-18-2-013.Īmerican nickels also saw a wartime change. Ford Island is in the distance to the right. Honolulu Sugar Plantation at ‘Aiea, Oahu with Pearl Harbor in the distance. From 1944 to 1946, the US Mint replaced the steelies with pennies that used brass salvaged from spent shell casings as a source of copper and zinc. And they didn’t like when the zinc oxidized and turned black or wore off and the steel rusted. They didn’t like when they mistook them for dimes. They didn’t like that they didn’t work in vending machines. The public did not like the “steelies.” They didn’t like that they weren’t copper-colored. This saved more than 40,000 pounds of tin and enough copper to manufacture 1.25 million artillery shells. Nearly 1.1 billion 1943 steel cents were minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco.

They tried glass and plastic replacements, but finally decided on a low-grade steel coin covered with a thin coating of zinc to prevent rust. Pennies at the time were made of 95% copper, 4% zinc, and 1% tin, and the government looked for an alternative. Among these were copper, tin, zinc, and nickel. And so did the need for certain strategic materials. When the United States officially entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other home front areas part of the Greater United States, wartime production increased dramatically. Photo by Jaclyn Nash.Ĭollection of the National Museum of American History, National Numismatic Collection.

Price of a double sided coin destiny 2