So What Are These Wartime Coins Made Of?

[kfields]

Was going through some of my late Uncle's things and came across these WW2 dated coins. He served in Europe during the war.

I realize Belgium had been under occupation, scarcity of materials, all of that. Just curious what the coins are made of. They are the same denomination as the 1938 dated silver coin on top but with wartime dates. They are not magnetic.

Maybe someone can give a little bit of history about them?

Kim

[Preppy Picker]

Many of them are zink.

[kfields]

Aahh, okay. Thanks!

[Gwar]

Not worth much, it would cost about the same as their worth to send them via post to a buyer.

 

25 Centimes - Léopold III BELGIE-BELGIQUE
25 Centimes - Léopold III (BELGIE-BELGIQUE) - obverse25 Centimes - Léopold III (BELGIE-BELGIQUE) - reverse

Features
Issuer    Belgium 
King    Leopold III (1934-1951)
Type    Standard circulation coin
Years    1942-1946
Value    25 Centimes (0.25 BEF)
Currency    Franc (1832-2001)
Composition    Zinc
Weight    6.5 g
Diameter    26 mm
Thickness    1.90 mm
Shape    Round with a round hole
Technique    Milled
Orientation    Coin alignment ↑↓
Demonetized    1 March 1968
Number    N# 5331
References    KM# 132, LA# BFM-61, Schön# 87
Obverse
Monogram of Léopold III around center hole, date below.

Lettering: 1944

Engraver: Oscar Jespers

Reverse
Coats of arms of Brussels (left), Mons (middle) and Bruges (right) surrounded by bilingual legends. Value and designer below.

Lettering:
BELGIE-BELGIQUE
25C
O.JESPERS

Translation:
BELGIUM-BELGIUM
25c
O.JESPERS

Engraver: Oscar Jespers

Edge
Smooth

25 Centimes - Léopold III (BELGIE-BELGIQUE) -  obverse
Mint
Brussels, Belgium (983-date)
Comments
Of the 1947 coin 316,000 pieces were struck were sent back to the mint to be recycled and were never put into circulation (Morin, 2012 and Aernout, 2019).

 

 

 

 

[kfields]

Thank you, GWAR, for the detailed response.