Expert: PAPAJACK - 6/19/2009

Question
i did dome reading and it says that the mint marks on the
nickel in philly started in 1942 but i have a 1941 nickel with
a P mark above the monticello building is this rare?

Answer
Hello Roger,                 

This piece is not rare and it is not an error coin.

I have experience with these coins and have seen them in other denominations. These are altered coins either the date was modified or it was made like a two headed, or Two Tailed Trick coins.

There is also the possibility of it being made of something other than real nickels.

Most of the ones I have come across are machined out on one side, while an identical coin is thinned and slightly reduced in diameter. The smaller and thinner half is then placed in the hollowed out half coin.
Sometimes this is made as a novelty item to sell or to fool collectors, or a Joke piece called a "Fantasy Coin". I have also heard of coins being sawed in two halves and glued together.

The process the US Mint used that year would not allow a 1941 coin to have a 1942 reverse die used with it.

As information for authentic types of error coins the general rule is "the Greater the error the Greater the Value" but it does have to be a Mint Error.

For information on true error coins look for the book "The ERROR COIN ENCYCLOPEDIA" by Arnold Margolis (not sure of the spelling).

It goes into detail about how errors have occurred at the mint.  Your Library may have a copy or it is inexpensive to buy.

If there any more information you require on this question just ask.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack