THE 1964-P JEFFERSON NICKEL

[James G. Berline]

Just Curious, how other Jefferson collectors out here, feel about the 1964_P Jefferson.

With over a billion of these minted, one would think, its' common. One in a

High MS,,,,but' how about these with full steps?

 

How would these actually stand out, would it be considered a true rarity as a conditional nickel?

[JStull]

I think you would need to look at pop reports for the FS attribution to determine the rarity of the 64P FS. I'm not sure what the pop figures are, as I mostly buy raws.

[coinman_23885]

With a mintage that large, I am relatively unimpressed even by high grade uncirculated coins. Full step coins, on the other hand, are completely different. I have only found a single one, and it was in an ICG holder. In hand the coin is full steps, but I'm unsure about the MS66 grade. I think PCGS would knock it down although I actually think (gasp) that ICG had gotten that one right.

 

Edited to add: I have only seen one go up for auction within the last couple years (at least that I can remember).

[lehigh96]

I think the 1964 Jefferson Nickel is Rodney Dangerfield. It's astronomical mintage lends collectors to routinely give it "no respect." The truth is that finding a premium gem 1964 is pretty difficult and finding one with full steps is extremely difficult.

 

The population reports are as follows:

 

NGC MS66: 90/5

PCGS MS66: 24/0

NGC MS66 FS: 5/0

PCGS MS66 FS: 4/0

 

Because of the difference in grading standards between PCGS and NGC for Jefferson Nickels, NGC MS66 nickels are basically treated as PCGS MS65's and are worth only about $25.

 

When you get to the PCGS MS66's and NGC MS67's, the conditional rarity kicks in and the price goes way up. In my research, which has limited results, they range from $300 to $500. IMO, this is significant incentive for roll searchers to find the remaining OBW of 1964 Jeffersons and cherrypick the premium gems for submission. However, we have not seen a dramatic increase in the populations of these premium gem 1964's over the last 5 years.

 

I currently own two 1964 Jefferson Nickels. The first is an MS66* which represents the slot in my registry set because of the eye appeal. The second is an NGC MS67 which would most certainly not grade higher than MS66 in a PCGS holder.

 

 

I will say that I am not a big fan of paying huge premiums for the full step designation. I would much rather have a coin that just misses full steps and has overall great strike details and eye appeal.