1973 MS 66 5FS Jefferson Nickel

[TD Henson]

Jefferson's are tough coins...

 

I thought the Roosies were tough, but I think the Jeff's are even tougher. Most of what I see are junk, but every once and a great while a nice specimen appears. Sent this one on my last submission and was happy with the results.

 

Year: 1973

Grade: MS 66 5FS

Registry Points: 24

NGC Pop: 28/2 in 5FS and 4/3 in 6FS

Purchase Price: Self Made

 

Not especially rare by condition or Full Step status, but a sharp looking coin none the less. The Red Book for Jeff's states that 5FS coins are 1 in 3 and that 6FS coins are scarce. I guess perhaps the reason for low points being awarded to this coin. I'm at a loss as to why so low a points on the FS coins in this entire series, barring a few issues, given the difficulty of finding nice coins. As with this issue, they may be 1 in 3 with 5FS, but many are 64 and below.

 

This coin is sharply struck, blast white (little to no toning), has almost a cameo like frosting to the devices on the obverse and really nice step division. Happy to add this to my fledgling Jefferson Nickel Collection.

 

See more journals by TD Henson

[SPHansen]

Nice... I am enjoying the education of sending coins for grading... the hits and misses. Seems you got a hit there... gratz

[TD Henson]

I agree. The education is fun. I still get disappointed when I completely miss the obvious and come out with a poor grade. Thankfully, those are becoming fewer and fewer...

[lehigh96]

Welcome to my world. Nobody gives the Jefferson series respect until they try to collect them. Nice coin btw, got any photos of the reverse?

[mkman123]

anyone got pics of a 6FS jeff?

[lehigh96]

anyone got pics of a 6FS jeff?

 

How many do you want?

 

Just kidding!

 

[e1cnr]

Very nice coin, and always a joy when plucking a raw coin yourself and getting good submission results.

 

The redbook uses a generalization on frequency of full steps, as there are some issues that have over half and others that are basically non-existant.

 

If you enjoy and are working on the Jefferson series, I highly recommend the book -> The Jefferson Nickel Analyst by Bernard A. Nagengast

 

which is about the cost of 1 coin grading fee and covers neat series background / events and a year by year evaluation of conditions and rarities up until the time of printing.

[Thane]

Wow - great coin. Your strike is so clean, that a little chatter earned the MS66 grade. My MS67 looks much more "traditional" for 1973.

 

I think your MS66 5FS reverse is such a crisp strike, it looks like vintage 1996, not 1973.

 

Here's the link to my 1973 MS67 6FS (homemade from OBW) in my registry - unfortunately I lost my archive of high res photos, so my older registry photo is the best image I have for now -

 

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinView.aspx?PeopleSetCoinID=1122896

[TD Henson]

Wow! MS 67 6FS... Great coin and great description. The origin of my coin was a mint set. I seem to never have any luck with OBW rolls, but given this coin, I may have to test the water again..

 

I'm a novice with Jeff's - who can explain the Step methodology that you all use. I see it frequently and I believe you call it the half step method?

[dadams]

Very nice! You have some tough high-grade FT Roosies and if you start in on this series I'd like to check out that "fledgling Jefferson Nickel Collection" in a year or two.

 

I undertook, not too long ago, finding an MS67 1971-D Jefferson. Being new to the hobby I had no idea what FS meant. I studied an article found online titled "Understanding Full Steps" and it proved most helpful:

 

Variety Nickels - Understanding Full Steps

 

Here is the coin I eventually purchased. 1971-D MS67 5FS

[lehigh96]

I wrote an article about full steps on another forum, here is the link.

 

The Full Step (FS) Designation for Jefferson Nickels

[mkman123]

Lehigh, just read your article!! I now understand the fs designation! Thanks for your contribution