1942 S/S FS501 Jefferson Nickel RPM with diagnostics
Aspie_Rocco
Posts: 3,259 ✭✭✭✭✭
1942 was another year that saw a plethora of varieties for US coinage. Nickels saw a composition change, various denominations had multiple DDO, RPM, and DDR varieties. It is one of my favorite years for coins so I will share a few RPMs today.
The easiest diagnostic for quick assessment is the spike protruding from the back of Jefferson’s neck that points at the space between the 9 and 4 of the date. On later die stages there is crack in a Very specific location coming from the base of Monticello down through the right side of the N in Cents to the O of OF. This particular crack is closer to the E of Monticello than it is to the L. Late die stage examples also exhibit die polish lines, I infer these are leftovers from efforts to remove the spike in the neck. 
Later die stage examples 
Shots to accentuate the crack 
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/publishedset.aspx?s=142753
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
Comments
With that "spike" protruding from Jeffs back, you can't miss this one,.
A nice BIG RPM, too.
Pete
That’s great information and I for one appreciate you taking the time to share it with us. 👍👍
I got one somewhere from segs. Nice coin ya got
Yes, 1942 was an interesting year... for nickels.... AND people...
.... After all, that is the year I began... Cheers, RickO