Weird NJ: Treasure Hunting for Plug Nickels

Francis LeRoy Henning of Erial may not be a household name to most folks in New Jersey, but to treasure hunters and coin collectors, Henning's name is notorious for counterfeiting what coin enthusiasts call "The 1944 Henning Nickel."

In the early 1950s, Henning, a counterfeiter by trade, set out to fake Jefferson nickels from the World War II era (1942-45). Nickel alloy at that time was more important for the government to make armor plates for the war effort, so the official 5 cent piece was minted with a combination of copper, silver and manganese. An identifying mark of either "P" (Philly), "S" (San Francisco) or "D" (Denver) was printed on the tail side of the coin.

Henning claimed to cut the dies for his coins directly from real coins using a machine he invented, but this has been disputed by coin collectors. Henning forgot one important impression: the mint mark of the state of origin on the back of his coins. The coin also had another minting flaw; there was a small indentation in the "R" in the word "Pluribus." His coins were minted with monel metal, a mixture of copper, nickel and iron. (Monel metal is mostly copper, around 80 percent).

It has been estimated that Henning produced almost a half-million of these nickels in 1954, and nearly 100,000 of them went into circulation before the Camden County Coin Collectors Club noticed the missing mint mark and tipped of the Secret Service early in 1955, who traced the operation back to Henning's home in Erial. Unfortunately for the feds, Henning dumped an estimated 200,000 of his nickels in the Cooper River in Cherry Hill before hightailing it out of town and fleeing to Cleveland, Ohio. Only 12,000 of those coins have ever been recovered from that river. Another 200,000 may have been dumped into the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, none of which were ever found. Henning also produced the years 1939, 1946 and 1947 era nickels, but the 1944 without the identifying mark is the money coin for collectors.

He bought his metal from the same place the U.S. government purchased their metal at 31/ 2 cents for each blank. If there were really about 500,000 counterfeit coins minted, Henning's cost would have been $17,500. If you consider the other costs of printing, engraving and labor, and the fact that only 100,000 or so ever got into circulation before he closed up shop, Hennings would have spent $3,500 of his own money to turn it into a bogus $5,000. Considering the cost of a new home was about $8,000 and gas was 22 cents a gallon in 1954, we imagine he thought it was a good idea. In 1954, a nickel's value was equivalent to about 50 cents today.

The coins that did go into circulation are occasionally found in pocket change, and collectors have paid from $10 to $15 for each Henning's Nickel that surfaces. One recently sold on eBay for $56. Although technically it is illegal to own counterfeit money, there is a market for them among coin buffs. The story of Henning was written up in various coin collector magazines, and there was a self-published booklet, "The Counterfeit 1944 Jefferson Nickel" by Dwight H. Stuckey, which details Henning's operation, but it is hard to find.

Henning was arrested in 1955 in Cleveland and pleaded guilty to counterfeiting nickels. He was sentenced to three years in jail with a $5,000 fine. Another three years were tacked on to his sentence for previously counterfeiting $5 bills. Over the years, the legend of Henning's counterfeiting operation has grown enormously among the coin community. The counterfeited pocket change that Francis LeRoy minted is worth an estimated $6 million among collectors if all the coins that he said he minted were ever recovered.

"Dirt Fishing" for Henning Nickels with Neil Schwartz

Weird NJ met with treasure hunter Neil Schwartz at a secret location along the Cooper River in Cherry Hill. Neil has been doing research for the last few years as to where Francis LeRoy Henning dumped an estimated 200,000 or more counterfeit nickels in the river before he was caught by the feds in 1955.

Neil, who is the webmaster for WestJerseyDetecting.com is a "Dirt Fisher," a term used for treasure hunters and coin collectors. The site started out as an extension of his hobby and he would post photos of his treasure and coin finds for like-minded enthusiasts. Neil showed us the approximate location where he believes Henning dumped his coinage, and plans on recovering those that he can find.

WNJ: When did you first hear about the Henning Nickels?

I heard about Henning and the nickels in 2005 through various forums, and found out Henning lived just around the corner from here in Erial. He was a machine shop operator. I've viewed photos of the river that were taken in 1950, and with floods and erosion over the years, the river has changed a bit. I managed to track down two eyewitnesses who were kids at the time who showed me where the Secret Service was digging and dredging the river. They didn't know each other, but they basically both told me the same location. They said at the time the Secret Service was pulling up bucketfuls of nickels. The schoolchildren from the local school were coming down and grabbing them. It got to the point where the Secret Service had to go to the school and tell the children about how counterfeiting is illegal and they would have to turn in whatever they found. The spot is close to a road, which makes sense because Henning was trying to dump a heavy load in a hurry.

Why don't you think he would have done a quarter instead of a nickel?

Well, first off, quarters were silver and much more detectable. If you start to research counterfeit nickels, you'll read that there was a lot of counterfeit nickels like the King George copper, going on in the 1850s. The nickel coins seems to be the coin that flew under the radar in most cases.

Don't you think any nickels you'd find in this river now would all be corroded?

I think they will be. It will probably be a rusted mass of orange metal because of the minerals and everything else that is in the river. Nickel coins generally don't stand up very well to time even in the best conditions.

People always ask us 'What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen,' and we're asking you 'what's the weirdest thing you ever found?'

Not long ago I went to the beach and I found three silver teeth! But you always find something when you go digging with the right equipment. I've found many Spanish coins. I once found a rare U.S. coin that went for $3,500. But with these new shows on TV like "American Diggers" and others, these metal detectors are flying off the shelves, and now metal detecting is starting to be banned in many areas because people think they can dig anywhere at any time. For die-hards like myself who are serious about the hobby, it will ruin it. People are leaving big holes and that's not right. The rule is to leave no holeprints.

Once on a property inland by Route 9 I found a copper King George coin from 1722, which was amazing. A minute later about 33 away I got another hit and found a coin that was even older. Then in-between the two spots I find another that was the oldest of the three! You wonder how they got there and have been there for so long. Maybe 200 years ago someone fell off their horse and got robbed or something. You never know.

When do you think you'll be searching for the Henning Nickels?

I wrote the Camden County Parks Department. I don't want to do anything without the park police knowing what's happening. Now I'm waiting for the DEP to see about safety issues, pollution and any environmental concerns that might come up. I mean, the nickels themselves have been leaking toxins for the last 60 years. I have a team of about six people, I listed the equipment we were going to use, I told them "no dredging," things like that. The big problem is the silt and the mud that has shifted the river over the years, but that's the challenge.

When do you do your 'dirt fishing?'

I don't do too much hunting in the summer. It gets too overgrown with poison ivy, ticks, things like that. I prefer the cooler months. You're not allowed to metal detect in the Pine Barrens, which is unfortunate because the sandy soil preserves whatever is below much better than dirt that's been filtered with fertilizers and chemicals from farmers and industry. The more you research areas that are considered historic, the more you get to know about what you might find. There are a lot of great old ruins that you can find stuff in. The more research you do, the luckier you seem to get!

The preceding article is an excerpt from Weird NJ magazine, "Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets," which is available on newsstands throughout the state and on the web at www.WeirdNJ.com .