i have a 1953 shoulder fold i think its a near leaf. how do i tell the difference and how much are they worth?
Near leaf means the maple leaf is closer to the rim of the coin than it is to the beaver's head. Far leaf means the maple leaf is about an equal distance from the rim and the beaver's head. The near leaf shoulder fold is the common variety and worth between $0.10 in VG to $7.00 in MS63.
welcome to the forum! I have attached a picture of the differences. For me the easiest way to tell is the differences in the shape of the "I"s on the script of the coin.
1953 nickle What a coincidence. I just found a 153 nickle the other day. My dad brought over a bunch of coins, I was going to put in my daughters piggy bank, and thought, I would check the dates. I thought 1953 was pretty good so kept it. So after looking it over with my magnifyer for quite a while, I think I have the shoulder fold obverse, whatever that means. The leaf I think is either far or near, hard to tell. So, what does all this mean? That I can sell it for $7.00. Very time consuming with the magnifying glass. I hope I don't have to go through this with my other 200 coins, lol.
Near and Far should be fairly obvious without a glass. SF or NSF less so, especially on a circulated coin. The Shoulder Fold refers to a line indicating a fold or strap of cloth on HRH's dress at the shoulder. Take a good look at the PDF The_Cave_Troll provided. It shows with pictures both the Near/Far Leaf and Shoulder Fold/No Shoulder Fold and the "I"s he mentioned too.
