JEFFERSON NICKEL

KEY DATES • WAR NICKELS

1938–PRESENT • KEY DATES • 35% SILVER WAR NICKELS • DOUBLED DIES • FULL STEPS

SORTING LEGEND

P1Pull Immediately / Authenticate

P2Check Carefully / Better Variety

P3Common Date / Condition Pull

FSFull Steps

DDODoubled Die Obverse

DDRDoubled Die Reverse

RPMRepunched Mintmark

OMMOver Mintmark

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

Microscope
or 10x loupe

0.01g
Scale

Good
Lighting

Reference
Guide

1 P1 / P2 KEY DATE PULL LIST

Date	Mint	Priority	Notes
1938-D	D	P2	First-year Denver; better date in high grade / FS
1938-S	S	P2	First-year San Francisco; better date
1939-D	D	P1	Key early date
1939 Reverse of 1940	—/D/S	P1	Major reverse design variety
1939 Doubled Monticello	—	P1	DDR strong reverse doubling
1942-D/D Horizontal D	D	P1	RPM D over horizontal D
1943/2-P	P	P1	War nickel overdate
1950-D	D	P1	Lowest mintage regular Jefferson issue

2 WAR NICKELS 1942–1945

35% SILVER • LARGE MINTMARK ABOVE MONTICELLO

Year	Mints	Priority	Composition / Check
1942-P Silver	P	P2	35% silver; large P over Monticello
1942-S Silver	S	P2	35% silver; large S over Monticello
1943-P/D/S	P/D/S	P2	All war-nickel composition
1944-P/D/S	P/D/S	P2	All war-nickel composition
1945-P/D/S	P/D/S	P2	All war-nickel composition

WAR NICKEL FACTS

Wartime Jefferson nickels are 35% silver, 56% copper, and 9% manganese, and still weigh 5.00g. Look for the large P, D, or S mintmark above Monticello.

War Nickel

Regular Nickel

3 SILVER + KEY GALLERY

1950-D Key Date

Obverse

Reverse

Check: Denver mintmark and condition. Full Steps examples are especially important.

1939 Doubled Monticello

Obverse

Reverse

Check: strong doubling around MONTICELLO and FIVE CENTS.

1943/2-P Overdate

Obverse

Reverse

Check: overdate in the final digit and large P above Monticello.

1942-D Horizontal D

Obverse

Reverse

Check: Denver mintmark area for D over horizontal D.

PLAIN ENGLISH DEFINITIONS

WAR NICKEL

1942–1945 35% silver nickel with large mintmark above Monticello.

FULL STEPS

Strong, uninterrupted Monticello step lines on Mint State coins.

DDR

Doubled Die Reverse; check Monticello and reverse lettering.

RPM

Repunched Mintmark; check older D/S mintmark coins.

OMM

Over Mintmark, such as D/S or S/D.

KEY DATE

Lower availability and strong collector demand.

FS PREMIUM

Full Steps can matter more than date alone.

AUTH

Authenticate P1 varieties before selling.