I see in Coin Value that there is a drastic difference in value of Jefferson nickels that have full steps and those that don't. Are the full step coins a special strike or normal issues ? Could someone post a comparison picture of what the full steps and non-full steps look like ?
full steps The full step Jeffersons weren't any kind of special strike. They were regular, business-strike coins (except, of course, when we refer to proof coins as having full steps). The difference is that they received an especially strong strike, and therefore the steps are fully formed. For many dates this is common, but for other dates, fully struck Jefferson nickels are rare or even unknown! Five full steps is enough to be called a full-step coin, but the ultimate is really a six-step coin. In my opinion, the very best resource you can use to learn about full steps is here: http://varietynickels.com/pages/jefferson-nickel/grading/understanding-full-steps.php Remember, that if the steps have cuts, nicks, or bridges, they're not really full-step coins. The way around this is using the 4-part grading system, also described at the link above. In my opinion, a fully-struck coin should not suffer losing the grade just because it incurred a nick later in life.
