Today we are going over 1971 Jefferson nickels. They are some really rare and valuable coins that we’re going over. So sit tight, relax, and let’s go ahead and hop right in.
1. 1971-D Jefferson Nickel, MS67 FS: $384
Let’s start with this first 1971 Denver-issued Jefferson nickel. Now, if you did not know already, to see if you have a Denver-issued coin, you want to look for a small little D mint mark. In this case, that little D mint mark is located on the bottom right-hand side of this coin.
Now, typically the 1971 Jefferson nickel is not going to be that rare, but there are some details I’m going to show you in this article that make them very rare and valuable.
The first one is its grade. Grading is very important when it comes to the value of your coin. Essentially, what it means is the condition. The higher the grade, the better the condition, and the more money your coin is generally going to bring. This one got a 67 grade, which is only three points away from the perfect grade of 70.
This one also has an FS, or Full Step, designation on the coin, which I’m going to talk about here in a moment. But this coin was able to sell for $384.
2. 1971 Jefferson Nickel with No Mint Mark, Grade 66 FS: $39
Now, this next one is the same type of coin, guys, okay? Except this one has a few things going on with it. First of all, if you look in the same spot as the last coin, it is missing the D mint mark. This coin has no D mint mark, which means it’s not an error. It means this coin was issued at the Philadelphia Mint.
A lot of the time, Philadelphia will simply not include a P mint mark on the coin. No mint mark oftentimes means that you have a Philadelphia-issued coin.
This one graded one point lower than the previous coin. It sold for $39. So, not a ton of money. The person who got this coin graded probably lost some money on it. One, the grading fees alone probably cost around the price it sold for. On top of that, there’s the amount of time it took for the coin to get back. Then they sold the coin on Heritage Auctions, so you had to ship the coin, and there are some fees associated with that.
3. 1971 Proof Jefferson Nickel with No S Mint Mark, NGC PF68: $1,006.50
But this next coin sold for $1,006.50. It is a 1971 5-cent Jefferson nickel graded by NGC at a Proof 68. A lot of the time, proof coins are not that rare and valuable. But in this case, the proof coins are hard to come by, especially if there is this one little issue on the coin.
There are a few things you need to really pay attention to here, so just do your best to follow along. I’m going to make this as simple as possible.
Proof coins from 1971, these Jefferson nickels, should have an S mint mark on them. These proof coins do not have an S mint mark, meaning these are a “no S” variety of the coin. So the S mint mark is missing. San Francisco is the mint that typically produced these proof coins.
If you have a proof coin, which is a very shiny, very lustrous coin (you’re going to notice it when you have one, you can almost see a reflection in it), and it’s missing the S mint mark, you could have a very, very rare coin.
I’ll also tell you that if you’re looking for a proof coin out in circulation or in pocket change, you’re looking in the wrong places. You want to find these coins in collections. They’re going to be well preserved. And remember, even if you do find one in circulation, chances are it’s not worth getting graded, because at that point it’s going to be a really beat up coin.
If you are just hunting for coins and having a good time, it is always such a great feeling to find a proof coin. But at that point, the condition is probably wrecked. Unfortunately, this person was able to find it, likely in a collection. They noticed that it had no S mint mark and they said, “Wow, we’ve got a nice little payday here.” $1,006.50
4. 1971 Proof Jefferson Nickel with No S Mint Mark, Grade 69: $1,952
Now, speaking of a nice payday, this next coin sold for $1,952. Same coin, except it graded one point higher, at a 69 grade. Once again, it has no S mint mark here on this coin. That’s located at the bottom right area of the coin. You can see just how different this coin looks. $1,952.
What Is the Full Step Designation?
Now, I want to take a quick step back and talk really quickly about the first two coins and the fact that they had the Full Step designation. This is a designation given by the grading companies when they notice that there are full steps on the back center of the coin. These Full Step designations will increase the value of your coin, and they’re almost necessary for the 1971.
So even if your coin has full steps, they must be visible, or else it won’t get the designation. Another important note: if your coin grades below the Mint State grade, they are not going to designate your coin as full steps.
You can see the 66-graded coin only sold for $39 with the Full Step designation. So the full steps are not always going to make your coin extremely valuable, depending on the type of coin. But in combination with the grade, that’s going to be a big lift to the value of your coin.
We do hope you enjoyed this article on 1971 Jefferson nickels. We will see you guys in the next one.