Plugged dates to the 1880s. Back when coins actually contained
valuable metal, it was a counterfeiting practice to remove the
silver or other valuable metal from the center of the coin and
replace it with a plug of lead or other base metal. From the 26
September 1883 Indiana Weekly Messenger: All that was found in
the shape of money was a plugged quarter. And we have plugged
nickel from the 1930s. From Carl Sandburg’s 1936 The People,
Yes: He seems to think he’s the frog’s tonsils but he looks to
me like a plugged nickel. Why did plugged nickel catch on and
other denominations of coin not? Early citations tend to favor
plugged quarters, but in cases like this there often is no
reason. Why one choice is favored over another is unknown. One
possible choice just catches on. (Source: Oxford English
Dictionary, 3rd Edition) Copyright 1997-2013, by David Wilton