1969S Jefferson nickel error coin ???

grover1

Hi all,

First the coin history. 1969S Jefferson Nickel..I found it in circulation with very nice luster. I took it to a local shop and had him help me find a grade for it...it grades somewhere around EF45-AU50 depending on how picky you want to be...the only worn spots are some of the hairlines are worn smooth and then the triangle peak on the reverse is somewhat worn down...and only 1 step shows...this coin has at least a 15% rotated die error so that when you turn obverse to reverse the bottom left corner of the monticello building is at about the 8:30 position. Then I almost pitched this back into circulation when I seen a mark that caught my eye .. the mark is between and under E Plurbius at a 45% angle....under a 10X eye piece this error turns out to be a nice set of stairs pushed into the coin....first we thought scratches...but then after closer examination we found that this is a very nice rectangular set of 4 complete stairs and the start of the 5th and 6th set..I mean you couldn't get much more symetrical with the design of these steps so we know it isn't scratches anymore....

Now my question is.......is this possible....how much would it affect the value of this coin..how would you actually value this coin since it has the rotated die error as well and finally where in the world would I find somebody interested in a coin like this. I would send along pictures of this coin but I can't get the detail enough so that you people could examine the stair error online.

Please help and thanks for any and all advice

Matthew Schumacher

Placid

Sounds like a die clash.

Louis

Welcome to the boards grover1. Sorry I don't have an answer for you.

grover1

So then would you guys think this is a keeper then? I've been holding it and eyeballing it daily for about 2 weeks now while I decide what to do and if I should try to find a buyer for it or if I should set this one aside for my kids so that when they get old enough to understand coin values they might have a nice nickel to work with.

Oh and thanks for the welcome to the board

Matt

BigE

Hi Matt, maybe send it to ANACS with a note and have it certified. I may not be worth too much but I think it is worth keeping--------BigE

grover1

thanks BigE that was the answer I was hoping to hear was that it might actually be worth having it graded.

Matt

Rampage

Grover-

Welcome to the boards. As mentioned, it does sound like a die clash. I would only send it in for grading and authentication if, and only if you do not plan on selling it. The grading fees would cost more than the value of the coin, in my opinion.

I have, on several occassions, sent in an error coin that was worth less than the grading fee, but that was only because I wanted it to fit in my display collection and did not want to stick a 2 x 2 flip in a box with a bunch of ANACS slabs.

I hope this helps.

Richard.

grover1

thanks rampage....that was my hopes is that I would find out kinda what happened with this coin and that somebody would say to send it in to get it checked out... I don't really want to get rid of it....but it would, I figure if its a legit die clash, be worth some money in 15 years when my youngest is ready for college....then I might be able to recover the cost of the grading after that time has past.

Have a great day

Matt

Conder101

Sounds like damage. Would not be a clash die be cause there is nothing on the other die to create the "steps" you describe. As for someone telling you to send it in to a grading service, I find that that bit of advice tends to be pretty much a knee jerk reaction to questions of this type all over the net. Even when it should be a last resort. (For example I have often seen it advised for "copper" 1943 cents even before suggesting testing with a magnet. Or "I have a silver 1978 cent, is it real? Send it to XXXX" instead suggesting it be weighed, which would eliminate 99.99% of all of them as fakes. Instead they recommend spending $15 to $30 to send it in plus the $14 or so in mailing fees.)

Placid

The "extra" steps are on the reverse not the obverse. I thought they were on the obverse

cladking

There isn't enough information to make a good guess why the coin would look like this.

Certainly the first guess would have to be post strike damage but there are ways for it
to happen otherwise.