Jefferson Nickel Question - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,182
ghostrider Pillar of the Community United States 1116 Posts	Posted 01/04/2013 9:31 pm I have seen this coin that has been graded ms66 with the following special circumstances: 1: reverse of 1940 with the obverse dated a year earlier, and 2: 5 full steps. I realize that the endorsement of 5 full steps is due to good dies and metals at the time of coinage. However what has me concerned is the endorsement of "reverse of 1940". I have seen conversation of coinages where the obverse of a current year's date bears the reverse of an earlier period. The latest conversation I saw here was for a 2010 ASE (?) that had the reverse attributable to the prior year. However, the opposite is true for the coin here. Where the reverse pertains to the following years. It just doesn't seem plausible that the 2014 reverse would show up on a 2013 coin. It sounds like something that was returned from the future from H G Wells "The Time Machine" where the Morlocks are here amongst us as I type this out. Further, would this coin be considered an error and if so is there any added value for this coin? Or is the coin a variety of the minted date. I don't know if the attribution is shown on the TPG slab or if this is the attribution of the seller. Was there a change in the reverse from 1939 to 1940 that could have shown up on the earlier coin? I'd like to purchase this coin. I have purchased from this seller but never a coin with the attribution shown. Any comments? Report this Post to the Staff

amida17 Pillar of the Community United States 4897 Posts	Posted 01/04/2013 9:41 pm I believe it would be called a transitional variety... Report this Post to the Staff
Kefiroth Pillar of the Community United States 1431 Posts	Posted 01/04/2013 9:52 pm All 1939 nickels are either reverse of 1938 or 1940 About halfway through 1939, the reverse dies for nickels were slightly modified with the steps being made more clearly defined. So the 1939 nickels struck before the modification with the old reverse dies of 1938 are known as "reverse of 1938" (or "wavy steps"), while those struck after the modification with the more clearly defined steps are referred to as "reverse of 1940" since 1940 was the first year that all nickels were struck with that reverse. (I'm not exactly sure what the ratio between the two is) Hope that clears things up. Report this Post to the Staff
ghostrider Pillar of the Community United States 1116 Posts	Posted 01/04/2013 10:25 pm So in other words: A: The concern about the reverses is quite common. B: In order to have a complete set a person would have to have a '39 with the reverse of '38 and no full steps and a '39 with the reverse of '40 and full steps. But I think the question then would remain would there have been full steps with the reverse of '38? I do like the full steps and will most likely contact the seller to purchase the coin in question. Report this Post to the Staff
Kefiroth Pillar of the Community United States 1431 Posts	Posted 01/04/2013 10:37 pm "Full steps" is not a variety, but refers to the quality of strike. On any well-struck Jefferson nickel, you should be able to distinguish all 5 steps on the Monticello; these are highly sought after. On a weakly-struck nickel or one struck with worn dies, the steps may not be fully separated or distinguishable. A nickel may be considered uncirculated even if it does not have full steps, since it is not a result of wear on the coin, but the result of being struck with worn dies. Edited by Kefiroth 01/04/2013 10:38 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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