Jefferson Collectors

coinkat

The 1939 rev of 1938... one that is a lock MS65 which a good shot at 66 and a slight chance of FS...how tough is this in high MS grade and is it worth slabbing? Any thoughts?

keets

hey coinkat

if i couldn't be reasonably certain of MS66 or the FS designation, i wouldn't submit the coin. they show up on eBay regularly and go begging. i would save my submission fees for more coins!!

al h.

coinkat

Thanks Keets

GQ

Most people like myself want nice coins in nice holders. If the coin is what you want, what you need, or just fun to look at then slab it.....or keep it in a crusty old 2 X 2 holder. It's your hobby and past time so do what you want. The Rev. or '40 is alittle more difficult.

Enjoy your Jeffersons.......

GQ

Check this out.....

Text

keets

hey GQ

that seems a bit over priced, eh??

my thinking is that if a collector says a coin has a "slight chance of FS" it probably won't get the designation.

as for the seller in your linked auction, he's been listing the various Reverses of coins for quite a while now, either PCGS or ANACS holdered and always with the erroneous PCGS pop report addition and at a very high opening bid. my eBay file shows 1939 PCGS MS66FS coins selling for $46-$102 over the last few years, either designated Rev. 40 or undesignated.

al h.

coinkat

I thought the 1939 reverse of 1938 was tougher to get in higher MS grades than the reverse of 1940. In any event, the current bid/reserve (whatever...) in the auction link seems optimistic from my prespective.

keets

if you look at the PCGS pop report for 1939, the Reverse of 1938 is more common in FS and non-FS for each of the three Jeffersons than the Reverse of 1940. some members have said that when PCGS began the designation on the insert, they grouped all the coins as Reverse of 1938. how true that is i don't know. given the current numbers, i'd assume a collector finding a coin incorrectly designated as a Reverse of 1938 would bring it to PCGS's attention and reap the windfall. i haven't yet found such a coin.

al h.

coinkat

It appears that a look at the ANACs and NGC pop reports may help shed some additional light on this... My pop reports from ANACS and NNGC are now other 3 years old and I don't have acess to them at the moment.

DennisH

My best luck (by far!) at finding 1939 reverse of 1940 coins has been to buy coins that are not designated either way. The only one I haven't found so far in either MS66 or 67 is the 1939-S.

So at least from where I sit, the 1939-S reverse of 1940 looks like the toughest one of the bunch.

GQ

It is true that all PCGS 1939 (PDS) Jeffersons where not designated with a reverse "type". The two reverse types have always been popular with collectors....just not "recognized" by a PCGS designation. PCGS began noting the two reverses sometime around last year with posts, polls and letters to PCGS. All prior PCGS 1939 Jeffersons are lumped into the "rev. of 1938" catagory (For the Registry only).....regardless of the actual reverse. I wonder how many 1939 PCGS Registry coins listed as full steps are reverses of 1938? I would think that the PCGS pop numbers for 1939 Jeffersons means nothing.

My 1939-S rev. of 1940 (A great Coin Shop find) is a MS65.....with a pop of 13/1....Whoa......

Keets....I don't know the seller but I thought that was an interesting auction.

Gotta go.....just received some used buffalos and I have a new bottle of acetone for bath time....


NICKEL TRIUMPH....WITH VARIETIES

keets

it makes sense to me that the Reverse of 1940 coins would be scarcer due to the year starting with the reverse of 1938 dies. it might be interesting if someone knows more about when the new Reverse was first used, the month or a percentage point of the total production at each mint, and when they started/ended production at the branch mints.

al h.

Hoot

The reverse of 1938 and 1940 are approximately as follows for 1939 issues:

Philadelphia: 10% rev38 and 90% rev 40.
Denver: 50% rev38 and 50% rev40.
San Francisco: 75% rev38 and 25% rev 40.

Hope that helps. In any case, a nice 1939 reverse of 38 Philadelphia coin is a rare bear.

Hoot

DennisH

Hello Hoot!

Your breakdown data for rev of '38 versus rev of '40 is MOST interesting, and I thank you for sharing it.

I'm even more curious to know, what is the source of that data?

Hoot

Nagengast's Jefferson Nickel Analyst 2nd edition lists these approximations. I've corresponded with other collectors and made my own observations that indicate that these approximations are nearly correct. If I were to make my own estimations based on my personal observations, I'd say that for Denver, the distribution is closer to 60% rev38 and 40% rev40. The other observations appear about right to me. Since there is no true census, either in Mint records or otherwise, these are the best numbers for us to go by for the time being.

Hoot

solid

When PCGS started designating Type 1 & 2 reverses for 1939 nickels, they
definately lumped all of the previously graded coins into the Type 1 pops.

The three 1939 coins in my set are all listed in the registry as Type 1 coins,
when they are in fact Type 2 coins that I have yet to send in for designation
review.

Therefore, the populations for Type 2 reverses should be accurate, with the
exception of crackouts/retries. The populations for Type 1 reverses consist
of a mix of Type 1 designated coins and undesignated coins.

Note that the proof coins are a completely different animal in regards to mintage
ratios. While the 1939 rev '40 business strike coins are relatively common, the
1939 rev '40 proof coins are quite scarce. There are also 1940 rev '38 proof
coins which are scarce as well!

Ken