We've barely done two of the six pages of the Dansco. A quick count shows 131 more coins to go - and my album stops at 2011. Feels like that should take another 4 months or so. So settle in and enjoy through the long winter months. I intend to!
@Lehigh96, I hope you continue to educate us on Jeffersons along the way, with or without photos. 1970-S The Dansco once again had a proof in the only slot available. I acquired this later so the Dansco is now all business strikes up to this date / mint mark. 1970-S Proof From the original collection in the Dansco
If your eye for other series is as good as your eye for Jeffersons, I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you send your best coins in for grading. Just be careful, selling coins can be just as addicting as buying coins. If you ever want a grading opinion on a Jefferson or any other 20th Century coinage, feel free to PM me. 1970-S: I cracked this out and put it in my album.
1971 I'm not sure I'm happy about the flaw on the jaw, but I like the reverse detail and full steps. Here is detail of the jaw. The criss-crossed lines (labeled Pre-strike) appear pushed together and indicate dents in the planchet that were not obliterated during striking. The higher mark (labeled Post?) that runs at 45 degrees looks like it had been hit from the bottom left and created a ridge of metal at the top right. This one is tougher and I am no expert here. Generally one would expect that any high point on the planchet would have to yield to contact with the die and would be smoothed out. So based on that, I would say this is post-strike. On the other hand, a post-strike ding from another coin should leave a clean-edged mark as well as the pushed up displaced metal. Since this mark is not knife-edged, and the displaced metal is kind of squashed, I would hazard a guess that it was pre-strike, too. I envision another planchet hitting it at an angle and peeling up some metal, which was then hammered by the die. The nickel is too hard, and the dent was just too big, to completely efface the mark.
I think the one you have labelled as Post? is clearly a planchet flaw. If either of these two marks are post strike, I think it would be the other one where the edges are much cleaner and well defined. The reverse of this coin is beautiful and premium gem full step quality. The problem is that the obverse looks AU. I see friction on the jaw, coat collar, and in both fields.
I see the smudged areas now. There arises the always puzzling question: How do you circulate just one side of a coin? Wouldn’t the other side want to tag along? It’s the numismatic equivalent of the sound of one hand clapping.
Excellent thread once again and the additions on each date in the series make this a magnificent one to keep bookmarked as are several of @Lehigh96 threads on the nickel series here on CT. And to keep it on the subject of 1971. Both part of a collection I purchased in a capital holder. I commend @RonSanderson for the time and effort to share each of these date by date with mints included. Bravo! Business Strike Proof Strike
1971-D The mint finally created new master hubs in 1971. The reverse shows great detail in all the windows, the column caps, portico, and dome. Also, in the five full steps. As a result I would expect this to be plentiful in higher grades. Yet, for MS67 with full steps the PCGS price guide is $550 and NGC is $400. Sure surprised me!
1971-S Proof The Dansco 8113 album is titled Jefferson Nickels including proof-only issues. 1971 is the first year that a mint produced proofs with a mint mark, without also producing business strikes. It seems sort of a complicated distinction - why not just have an album with all the proofs, or with no proofs, and a separate album for proofs. At least the collector did not have to choose between a consistent run of business strikes versus a "best possible coin" approach. Here are the first four of the album's San Francisco proofs. This is the middle of the third page of the album. (Also, a preview of the next 12 day's posts.) You can see the mint's new approach to intentionally making matte proofs. Up to this point they were a happy accident of preparing the dies, and the matte effect would wear away from the dies pretty quickly. @physics-fan3.14 explains this well in his book The Art and Science of Grading Coins, which I recommend to anyone who doesn't already have it. (And if you do, would it hurt to have two of them?) The dark appearance of this coin is readily confirmed from the photo of it in the album, above.
I recently replaced my NGC MS67 with an MS66 5FS 1971-D: Old 1971-D: New Footnote, I put that NGC MS67 on E-Bay and it sold instantly, within a week.
1972-S Proof I have two of these for some reason. These apparently were over-produced, at least once the proof set sales were no longer fueled by the initial speculative buying. Now you can get them for $2.00 at a coin show. From the Dansco Bought at a coin show for $2.00.
1973 The golden toning in the obverse fields makes this a standout in the album, as shown in post #274.