explaining FS to a semi-newbie

OK, so, I can see six steps in this (poor) pic . . . surely that's not what "FS" is referring to, is it? Can somebody enlighten me?

Thanks.

PS: I don't have the equipment to actually take a pic of a coin . . . so I use a way cheap epson-printer-copier-scanner. It actually does a halfway decent job on my old cents . . . but with shiny silver or nickel, none of the luster shows up in the pic.

Anyway, here's the pic with steps that I see:

 

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FS does indeed stand for full steps... and i just cant see if that coin has them or not... sorry

 

What you'll soon learn about the FS designation, Sholom, is that no two collectors, experts, or even graders will agree on one deffinition of the term. It's just one of those pull your hair out or forget about it type things that abounds in numismatics. Best of luck.
Guy~

 

Yes, those are the steps that are being referred to when someone says "full steps" or FS. It looks to me, though, by the reverse design of that coin, that it is a relatively modern coin. Full steps are very common on modern nickels. I don't remember the exact cut-off date, but I would expect everything after 1990 or so to have 6 full steps.

Of course, to truly get the FS designation the steps have to uninterrupted. If they have cuts or nicks on them, then most people won't count them as FS. I can't see that level of detail on your coin, so I can't tell.

 

OK, well, that's useful to know. Nevertheless, if I could hear some of the pros and cons, so to speak, and/or some of the issues.

In the meantime, can I try one more (poor) pic?

 

"Nevertheless, if I could hear some of the pros and cons, so to speak, and/or some of the issues."

What? I don't understand your question.

 

Your post, that apparently preceded mine by just seconds, answered just about all my questions. For one, I didn't see what was so great about them, when, e.g., the two coins I just showed pix of were out of pocket change for me this week -- but now that you said most post-90 nickels could have them, I understand. And the "uninterrupted" part I didn't know . . . I just thought it was six clear steps.

And, yes, those two were modern coins. Perhaps I'll take some older ones out (that I purchased as a teenager a long time ago) and see what they look like, and magnify the steps.

Thanks, all! I'm enjoying the learning . . .

 

in 1990 they strengthened the dies and it is typical to have FS from then on. The FS designation is most usefull for early jeffersons where the strikes were not that strong, and certain die designs made FS very difficult. certain dates are common in FS certain are not, the more rare it is the more desireable the FS is. Yes the steps have to be unbroken, no bridge or marks that would break a clear seperate line. Good luck to your collecting.

 

http://varietynickels.com/pages/jefferson-nickel/grading/understanding-full-steps.php

Maybe this will help-

Speedy

 

I wanted to answer your question so I did it by creating another thread.

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t49827/

Hope this helps!

 

Wow . . . great resource -- thanks!!

 

Good!

 

This is my only FS coin



should be five or six of them there...

 

LOL, I can't even imagine the designation for that.

 

Depending on the coin FS can also stand for First Strike, or it can indicate a Fivaz-Stanton variety number from the Cherrypickers guide.

 

Really - I didn't know that!

 

Personaly I think First strike is a bit of a missnoma after the 1st coin is produced LOL Nice pic of the 2008 Panda there Ruben :thumb:

 

yeah - that is a fun coin. I looked with a magnifying glass and it does have really complete stairs all the way to the top, which is quite impressive. But silver is a lot softer than Nickel Alloy.

Ruben

 

The problem with this coin is the darn tourists ruin everything

 

Speedy, that was very helpful.