Jefferson Nickels Ponytail?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by pennypal, Dec 12, 2009.

  1. pennypal

    pennypal Junior Member

    I've noticed on Jefferson Nickels, (the older ones) different markings and space between the back of his neck and his ponytail. But I've never been able to find any information, pictures, evaluation, or value concerning this feature of this coin.

    Is this a premium or just a common problem with this coin? Can anyone help me, concerning these visible hairlines, that are sometime there, and on the next coin, hairlines are not there?:goof:

    Thanks,

    Patricia
     
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  3. mark_h

    mark_h Somewhere over the rainbow

    Can you post some pictures of what you are talking about. I do not know a whole lot about them but would be interested in seeing an example.
     
  4. Lehigh96

    Lehigh96 Toning Enthusiast

    I am going to assume that in this case you literally mean "hairlines" as part of the design element of the coin. However, I don't know what you are referring to about the spacing from the neck to the ponytail. I have posted a photo of a war nickel proof using diffused lighting to see the full detail of the design below. Note the hair detail in the ponytail.

    [​IMG]

    The ponytail hair detail can fluctuate from coin to coin. While full detail would indicate a strong strike, the Jefferson Nickel series strike quality is almost always associated with the steps of Monticello first. If the steps are not full, there is simply no reason to recognize that the rest of the coin is well struck. Having said that, full steps are not always indicative of an overall strong strike. Here is a 6FS early Jefferson with almost not ponytail detail. In addition, the coin does not have full door and window detail on Monticello, another strike indicator.

    [​IMG]

    I hope this was the information you were looking for. If not feel free to ask more questions.

    Paul
     
  5. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    I think the OP is literally talking about the space BETWEEN the ponytail and the back of the neck. This opening does vary with strike and most especially with die state as the dies are polished. With polishing the opening increases in size and may vary in shape over the years with different design modifications of the master hub.
     
  6. Duke Kavanaugh

    Duke Kavanaugh The Big Coin Hunter

    Yea, that's my guess too.
    Look at the two you posted Lehigh, the 1942 has a much better strike and and where as you would bring up the steps or maybe the pillars and his hair if you look as the space between the ponytail and the head there is a big difference on these.

    OP - Basically it's just a better strike (cleaner, harder, better indention of the die) and so it looks better. Most people look at the steps and count them to talk about the strike from the die on these.

    If I understood your question right.
     
  7. pennypal

    pennypal Junior Member

    Thanks you guys for all of your attention to this post. You all really rock!
    Yes, I'll be glad to post pictures, just let me get my camera and take a few
    shots of the area(s) I have in mind. Monday, I will try to get them posted
    as soon as possible. And yes, I was talking about the area/space between
    the back of the neck to Jefferson's ponytail.

    Thanks everyone!

    Patricia
     
  8. pennypal

    pennypal Junior Member

    Jefferson Coin Camera Light Box

    Please forgive me for not posting my pictures yet, I took 30 of them Monday, but they all came out the wrong color, 'yellow tint', which is not the color of the original coins. I did not want to manipulate the image with photo edit software. For me, it's very hard to take pictures of very tiny details. So, right now, I'm hard at work trying to take pictures of each coin and also magnify/emphasis the area I have questions about.

    At this time I am building a lightbox (this won't take long, I promise) for my camera so that I can take clear pictures with the original color. Thank you for your patiences. I had no Idea, that taking pictures of these little coins, would be a total nightmare. But, I'm determined.

    Once again, please forgive me for the delay.

    Patricia.
     
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