Bit out of my depth, 1943-p Jefferson war nickel but with REverse DD instead of typical OBverse DD?

Discussion in 'What's it Worth' started by 2new2this, May 18, 2016.

  1. 2new2this

    2new2this New Member

    Guys, would love to hear what the initiates, adepts, and even the Masters have to say on this, found this in a coin jar and interested in any and all input BC this is all very new to me. My google-fu is pretty solid, I can find plenty of 1943-p JWN's that have the obverse DD strike (the double eye, the 2/3, etc, etc) but google seems unable to locate a single example or valuation of a reverse DD strike, which is what I've come to believe those lines/striations on the reverse side are indicating. Being a newb, at first I thought it was a planchet error, but after looking at more examples of DD strikes and examples of my original suspicion, my original suspicion has now been tossed out, perhaps a mistake.

    Wanted nice high rez images of this coin so I put it on imgur, which I hope isn't against some rule or guideline I'm about to be caned over, and if it is I promise I won't do that again. Here it is: http://imgur.com/1fjhQAR

    Gods I'm suddenly nervous now. Please fire away though.
     
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  3. SuperDave

    SuperDave Free the Cartwheels!

    Doubled dies can happen just as easily on the reverse as the obverse, but this coin is just an example of imperfect alloy composition. We call them "woodies," and the imperfect mix means the striations acquire patina in different amounts and speeds, causing the effect. It's a distraction to some, an item of interest to others (raises hand).

    You could have easily posted those two images here at the same size, one at a time.
     
  4. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    The striations are from an improper alloy mix. That happened a lot with the war nickels. I see no signs of a doubled die.
     
  5. TJ1952

    TJ1952 Well-Known Member

    Welcome to our home! Thanks for wiping your feet before coming in, most people don't.

    You are certainly moving and heading in the right direction with good pictures and detailed/articulate questions. Again, welcome!
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2016
    tommyc03 likes this.
  6. 2new2this

    2new2this New Member

    Thank you, SuperDave, I didn't know I could've chopped them back in two because I thought the size limit was for all images in a post, not the limit on each individual image. That's what I get for scanning so thanks for clarifying that for me.
    With furryfrog02's comments there's a consensus over poor alloying mix being root cause for those lines, I haven't heard about that one yet in the 4 hours, off and on, that I've been at this now. Lots goes wrong in the mints apparently. I'm sure it's just a small % of their total output that's flawed but before today I had no idea there were so many things to look out for or what they looked like. I had no idea coin collecting could be so utterly... consuming.

    I'm still very confused about what its value is or what it could be sold at auction for, I've read other threads saying these things are only worth the price of their silver bullion, about 1$. Then on some estate auction websites I see them selling from 20$ to a few thousand dollars, this is all for the same 1943-p and I'm not sure why there's such immense differences around the same coin's perceived value. Can someone ballpark what mine might be worth as well as explain why some of these would ever sell for so much money?

    Thanks for the kind welcome, TJ1952. Thank you everyone.
     
  7. SuperDave

    SuperDave Free the Cartwheels!

    Condition is key. Coin prices can vary by astronomical numbers based on grade. The grading scale (Sheldon Scale) used ranges from 0 to 70, with 60-70 reserved for Mint State coins, those which have not circulated.

    Some issues/dates/mints are extremely rare in high grade. The rarest Morgan Dollar is the 1893-S, but an 1884-S which is cheap and common in circulated grades is the most expensive Morgan of all in Mint State grades, because they're near-impossible to find that way.
     
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  8. 2new2this

    2new2this New Member

    I was thinking my coin might rate something like MS67 or MS68 but I don't really have any experience here and am just going by what I've read of the descriptions. Also, apparently the Grey Sheet can't always be trusted? Am I being too generous with my rating?
     
  9. SuperDave

    SuperDave Free the Cartwheels!

    Frankly, in these images it looks circulated. That's why I explained the grading scale; you seemed to be thinking top-end numbers for a circulated coin. Here's an MS67, 1943-P Jefferson:

    1943nickelobva.jpg
    1943nickelreva.jpg

    Here's one in MS65. The differences should be plain to the capable grader:

    1943nickel2obv.jpg

    1943nickel2rev.jpg

    Real-world sales, not "price guides," are the appropriate source for a coin's value. Here you go:

    http://www.pcgs.com/auctionprices/default.aspx

    That's two and a half million individual auction results across all US coins since 1997, plus some significant sales from before that. Most are linked to the original auction record, with high-resolution images. It's an invaluable aid for both pricing and grading, and ought to be a Bookmark for any collector of US coins.
     
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  10. TJ1952

    TJ1952 Well-Known Member

  11. SuperDave

    SuperDave Free the Cartwheels!

    Thank Heritage. :D
     
  12. TJ1952

    TJ1952 Well-Known Member

    Oh, never mind. :sorry:
     
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