Hi there, i have two 1985D nickels that have the mint mark in different places. One is close to the rim and the otheris well away from it. Is this a normal occurance with nickels?
Hello, Prior to 1991, mintmarks were hand punched into circulation dies, at the Philadelphia Mint, before being shipped to the branch Mints. So, yes, different mintmark placements are common for coins of that date.
Yes and No .. To start, nickels from this era and earlier were made from dies that had the mint mark punched on by hand ( ok, a mallet and a metal stamp) Since there were thousands of dies and all were stampted with the mintmark individually there is a lot of minor variations you will see as you search your nickels. As to value, they are usually only worth a significant premium (higher price) if the Mintmark has been stamped in a way that it touches our intrudes on other features of the design. So the Answer: Yes, it is normal to have varience in mintmark placement. No, it is not normal if the mintmark touches other design features.
Do you have a clear close up photo of the second one? It would be interesting to see if it is an RPM...
Well, unfortunately I don't see an RPM, but one of our RPM experts may be along and offer an opinion. Thanks for sharing!
