Yesterday going through boxes of stuff...some thay I probably havent touched in 40 years I ran across an old Whitman genetic nickel album that I most probably purchased as a kid by in 68/69 time frame. This was the plastic window one ,no dates just blank holes. I have purchased rolls of cents and nickels in those days...mosly unc. D & S mint marks as living East of the Mississippi river one never found many S mint marks...well until air travel became affordable for family travel. As think about it... in the 50's and 60's the family vacation were in the Family wagon...not on a 707 jet. I give this back ground to make you aware if not from this era just how things were. Air travel was for the rich,and famous...and business. Not famlies vacations like today. So why am I telling you this? Well and Im relatively sure those on the left cost found the same hunting Philly coins. Air travel once affordable helped not only people but coins move from the left coast to the right coast via plane. So collectors would buy rolls from Denver and San Francisco to obtain those mint marks. So I found that I had placed 1968 D/S & 1969 D/S nickels in this old Whitman book. Unfortunately these Albums did cause issues at times. The materials used were not coin friendly causing the coins to get vergis and for some reason to spot more..And I know this because I had others same date and mm in tubes that are the same as the day they were placed in the tubes. Now the 1968 S Jefferson there were two mint mark styles. The reason for this thread ,as so many times we get questions about a coin mint marks. Understanding that in many cases the fonts of the punches for a single year may be different types or different styles. As again people come on line here thinking they found something really rare,or valuable, when in fact theres die chips,filled mint marks, is what they are seeing...and believing that they hit pay dirt. So this thread a little history...a little information on mint mark styles, and the knowledge of how to find out for sure if there is actually something special. I book mark varietyvista.com ,ws well other sites. As a Coneca member I tend to use this site more,as I know a few of the attributers whom examine and attribute coins for Coneca. So a lot of folks are unaware of mint mark styles. The see a mm that looks strange ,and go right to RPM's . Then if the mm is filled or took a little shake durring minting, and MD is seen they are mistaken to belive they have found something great. So mint mark styles are something one needs to keep in mind. As some are actually worth more than an DDO or RPM. As perhasp they saw a limited use during that year. If you do go visit Varityvista.com you will see there are some dates listed in pink or red...next to a image of the mm in question. Some so rare Coneca wants you to share your specimens so they can document their existance and place a value on their rairty. So here's two examples of the two mm styles used on the Jefferson nickel. Notice one S tall thin...the other not as tall somewhat filled in the bottom loop. Definitely different... for the 68 S Jefferson nickel. One other note both styles came from the same roll. Not two different rolls.
We also have to consider that pressure adjustments occur, and caused the font to be changed. I thought there were 3 for the 68S? or am I thinking of the Proof?
