Jefferson Nickels
The Jefferson nickel was minted from 1938 through the present time. All of the
nickels, except the "war nickels" were made of copper and
nickel. In October of 1942 to 1945, nickel was removed from the
coin and was used for the war effort. The nickels were made from copper,
silver and manganese during this time. During the same time, there
was a slight design change. The mint mark was increased in size
and place above the dome,
and nickels made at the Philadelphia mint had their mint mark
"P" on them. In 1946 the P mint mark was removed again.Starting in
1968, the mint mark was moved to the obverse side and is right after the
date, and in 1980 the "P" mint mark was brought
back.
Both the obverse and reverse were designed by
Felix Schlag.  In
1966, his
initials FS were added below the bust. There were a few design
changes in 1971, 1972, 1977 and 1982. It should be noted that 1944
nickels without a mint mark are counterfeit.
The Jefferson nickel was minted at three of the four current
U.S. mints,
Denver, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. For those collecting
Jefferson nickels, the key dates are 1939 D, 1939 S, 1942 D, and 1950 D.
Composition:
1938 - 1942, 1946 to
date 75% copper 25% nickel
1942 - 1945 56% copper, 35% silver
9% manganese
Weight:
5g
1942 -1945 .056256 oz. of pure silver
Diameter: 21.2mm
Edge: Plain
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