Lem E

Welcome to the forum. Showing off some nickels. I like ya already.

Thats pretty cool.

Here is a 1947 S NGC 66-6FS example.

This is a pic of a 1939 REVERSE OF 1938 NGC 67-5FS. Sorry for pic quality in advance. (Mainly trying to show step detail)

This is a very interesting read for anyone looking for Full step nickel information. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwif4-LInJHvAhXVZs0KHVvYDNkQFjAAegQIBRAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblical-data.org%2FThe_steps_review.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1KlRDk24nrwQaZV9TNb_8L

I would call that a “Moon” coin.

I’m not sure about the whole MS60 full step thing. I am not a professional grader. I’m not even an amateur grader. Just a collector. I would say that a nickel could have full steps regardless of condition of the rest of the coin. If they are undamaged then it is what it is. However, this is highly unlikely as the steps are one of the most vulnerable spots on a nickel. All it takes is one hit that merges two or more steps together and the full step designation is out the window. That is presuming that they were full steps to begin with. Early nickels had a lot of striking issues. The metal is extremely hard which makes the striking process very difficult. This is a quote from Bernard Nagengasts book. “The Jefferson Nickel design suffers from an inherent flaw. The highest point on the obverse, Jefferson’s hair above his ear, was set exactly opposite the step area on the reverse. Unless die pressure was high, the distance between dies at the lowest point of travel and/ or the hair at the ear would not be fully struck up.” Full step nickels carry a premium for the early years (actually all years). Some years have almost no specimens with steps. These older coins with full steps can get quite pricey. It has also been noted that dies were wiped with oily rags and a combination of the oil, metal dust, lint, grease, and other things create a sort of paste that would get into the recessed parts of the dies creating a strike through issue. This would hinder the details in the strike as well. Several hub and die improvements have been made since the early days. I think starting around 1987, the step detail got much better. Full step coins are almost common place now. Hope this helps a little. P.S. Thanks to my brother Hoghead.

There is a thread ATS that is quite interesting on the woodgrain subject that I just read through. Quite a bit of reading and gets a little off topic at times but still good. Don’t really know if I got any definitive answers. Not sure if I am allowed to post the thread here or not???

Im old enough to where everything is pretty well baked in. Not quite “Y’all” southern, but just enough.

No Ma’am, they were not. I guess I may have a touch of the south in me.

Sometimes minor defects are hard to see in hand to the naked eye. Taking pictures and having the ability to blow up or zoom in on things lets you see small imperfections. I am from east central Illinois by the way. Born and raised.

Guess it was the black spots that caught my eye. I meant no disrespect. Its a fine looking piece.

I would say it is most likely some sort of environmental damage. Possibly a metal detector find. Could also have been chemically altered or dipped.

You definitely have the drive and quite a bit of spunk to boot. Just have fun with it all. Its a slow process and you will never run out of things to learn. Nice meeting you as well.

It doesn’t matter what shape it is in if you like it. That is really all that matters. You seem to be picking things up well. Keep up the good work.

I like the woodie look myself. Too bad it wasn’t in a little better shape.

Sometimes when a bulk submission is sent in, the submitter can request that if a coin doesn't get a high grade like 69 or 70, it gets slabbed as GEM UNCIRCULATED, or not slabbed at all.

Stick it in a flip and label it as a petrified woodie.

Kind of resembles a woodie Lincoln.

Perhaps our OP will let us know if this has some kind of texture to it.

You would think if this is after strike damage, the words and date would have the same lines, but they look clean. The outline of the U.S. also looks clean as was said earlier. The rim of the coin is also fairly clean.

Looks like coin rolling/counting machine damage to me.

Hello and welcome to the forum. There is usually a drop down menu for particular coins that have multiple signatures in the population reports (Census). Sometimes it gets a little hard to navigate, but if you look at it enough, it will tell you general populations by label and signature. You want to look for this symbol with the little circles under the coin you are looking up. Hope this helps.

If the track record continues, probably the current gov. They will get him for something. Just google Pritzker + toilets.

Someone else will fill his cell soon.