Does PCGS Actually Enforce Its Own Nickel Full Steps Criteria?

Not sure of this so take it with a grain of salt. FS designation is different for different years. Some years 5 steps is considered full and some years 6 steps is considered full. Nickels are not my area though, just sayin"
John1

if you have specific coins you want assessed for that. post them here but make sure you are able to get a sharp close up of the steps.

to answer your question, there should be any impingement on any of the steps. I've seen FS designations from both NGC and PCGS that do not meet that criteria so the only way to ensure the designation is to make sure there is nothing that would preclude it. I would never buy a slabbed one with an FS designation without verifying myself that it does indeed deserve the designation. this is just like anything else graded. buy the coin not the holder.

Of that I am sure. But unless one of them work for PCGS, they can't actually answer the question that was asked. They can venture opinions, and maybe that will satisfy the asker.

many of those are certainly not 6 FS, but I'd accept most as at least 5 FS

static photos are insufficient for fine details like steps, bell lines, etc. because there is no good substitute for having the coin in hand so that it can be angled to see how light reflects off curved and indented surfaces

after years of studying steps, I've moved toward looking at the whole coin for strike quality, and now favor one with sharp, fully formed devices around all surfaces

any FS or similar desigation calls my attention to the potential of a nicely struck coin, even if the designation is questionable

besides grade, I look for good strike and early die state, and the TPGs would probably love to reslab all coins with such data, for a small fee, of course

out of that entire list I counted 2 that for me would qualify as 5FS. thats just me. to answer your question, YES they are inconsistent in grading these and the reason I avoid them. one person may see 5FS and another not. nick10 makes my point where he would accept almost all of them.

PCGS - at least 5 full steps must appear on Montecello. any steps that join or fuse together, whether created that or from subsequent damage, cannot be considered for full steps

NGC appears to be more vague - NGC utilizes two designations to reflect the relative degrees of fullness in these steps: 5FS indicates that five of the six steps are complete, while 6FS is a rare designation reserved for those coins displaying six, uninterrupted steps. The presence of full steps on a nickel does not affect its numerical grade at all, and gems can exist both with and without this additional asset.

wow. I'm not sure that that was the original intent of the designation.
maybe I'm misreading your statement. do you mean you look at the overall coin strike and ignore the FS designation altogether? if so, that would make sense.

if I was building a set of the sharpest coins I could find I would be willing to pay retail for a nice fully struck example but never pay a premium for the designation. that would make more sense. I have a couple full sets that I pulled from circulation decades ago but
I'm not a fan of Jefferson's. I don't consider it one of the better designed modern coin