The Disappearing War Nickel
Editor’s Note: For nearly 70 years, the feature-rich pages of Coins magazine, Numismatic News’ venerable sister publication, have tracked the history, fun and the growth of this great hobby, while also attracting new collectors to pursue what was once deemed the “hobby of kings.” Dusting off these time-aged issues, from the early 1960s and beyond, each installment of “Past Times with Coins,” written by its former longtime editor, explores what nuggets of interest they contain.
In the early 1960s, coin shortages plagued the nation. This was exacerbated by the rising price of silver and the fears that more coins would be pulled from circulation should the bullion value of the nation’s dimes, quarters and halves surpass their face value.
The “News Briefs and comments” column in the May 1963 Coins magazine reported:
“The melting of coins to get silver continues, according to the
