Era
The Coins That Went to War
1942–1945: when the U.S. Mint pulled the metals out of America's pocket change and sent them to the front.
For two years, the penny in your pocket was made of steel, and the nickel held real silver. The war needed copper and nickel more than your change did — so the coins changed. And decades later, the country struck new coins just to remember it.
A wartime timeline
Key facts
Questions collectors ask
Sources
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