Featured Jefferson Nickel FS Designation

It was probably his retirement fund that he misplaced with his other set

 

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I'm not surprised PCGS called it FS. I would be very surprised if NGC would call it full steps (5FS or otherwise).

 

Defi

definitely not. I talk to him all the time and he's really happy for me when I find stuff like this. The whole set is not uncirculated.

 

I'm just kidding

 

Was going through my PCGS slabbed FS nickels, and all have the 5th and 6th step fused together in the middle. I wouldn't consider that FS, but I guess it is to PCGS. The one NGC FS nickel I have is not fused between the 5th and 6th, and only considered 5FS. This is something I want to research more.

 

Here is an example

 

94 or 97 Specimen? At least it looks like one of the Matte nickels...

 

97

 

I have just been baffled by the FS designations dished out by TPG's. Jeffs are one of my favorite coins to collect, but after looking at coins slabbed by PCGS, NGC and old ANACS, there just doesn't seem to be much consistency. I just sold 2 1939 S Jeff FS's the other day and the reverse of 1938 looked bad. I have a 1939 D Rev. 1940 graded by NGC as MS64 5FS, which is pictured below. There is a big gash across multiple steps. Also, the 5th step is fused with the 6th, and even some parts of the 4th. Almost all my FS Jeffs have the 5th and 6th fused at least half of the whole step. The pics I posted below are BAD, I know, but it's hard to take pics through a slab, through a loupe, using a cell phone.

 

Well that sucks for TPG consistency. Every time I think I will send something in I get the idea it is a waste of money unless I am selling. What if in 20 years the TPG's have it so hosed that all it becomes is a good protection piece?

 

One thing to remember is that the full step designation is different for the reverse of 38 and reverse of 40. With the reverse of 40, you look for interruptions in the lines and bridges. With the reverse of 38, there will always be bridges so what you look for is an uninterrupted 5th step. Shown below is an example of a reverse of 38 with a FS designation.



Notice all the bridges of the lines and there is even a mark in the middle, but the bottom step is complete even if it does show some narrowing in areas. I also look for the lines to be complete between the 1st & 2nd pillars for the reverse of 38. It is definitely more difficult and subjective to assign the FS designation for the reverse of 38. Furthermore, since the designation has a significant impact on value on all of the reverse of 38 coins, the validity of the designation should be scrutinized before buying.

With respect to the overall consistency of the full step designation, one only needs to look at the population reports to see that NGC is far more conservative in their application of the FS designation than PCGS. This does not mean that there are not valid full step coins graded by PCGS, there are. It also does not mean that NGC has not blown a couple along the way. Here is an example of a 1948 NGC 5FS where the graders must have thought the line that breaks all of the steps was the left most part of the design.



That said, the buyer should always scrutinize every full step designation awarded by PCGS because of their track record. Finding a bad 5FS designation awarded by NGC is rather difficult and because of their rarity, you can usually unload them for a decent price if you get one.

Also please keep in mind that the 5th & 6th step being fused does not affect the full step designation unless you are talking about the NGC 6FS designation. Otherwise, they only require 5 complete steps for the PCGS FS and NGC 5FS designation.

 

Thanks for the write up. The pics I posted are from a 1939 D reverse of 40. There are only 11 total FS for this year/mm. I just don't think this should have been one. What do you think after looking at my terrible pics?

 

I think that the mark between the N & T that crosses steps 3-6 is too deep and should preclude the 5FS designation. However, if you look at steps 1 & 2 above the I, that is the type of mark that is acceptable of a full step Jefferson Nickel.

I think you should sell that 1939-D NGC MS64 5FS to someone who buys the plastic instead of the coin. It is worth 620 registry points which is in between MS66+ and MS67 for that date/mm. I think you should have no problem unloading it.

Personally, I don't like to sacrifice grade simply to add a full step designation which concentrates on such a small portion of the coin's surface.

Paul