1977 Jefferson Five Cents 1965 to Date MS66FS

History

The Jefferson nickel had been in production since 1938 when this Denver issue was struck, but the coins of the mid-1960s and later form a distinct collecting group because of where the mint mark sits. No mint marks appeared on any nickels from 1965 through 1967, and beginning in 1968 the letter was placed on the obverse, slightly clockwise from the last digit of the date, rather than beside Monticello on the reverse. Philadelphia coins carried no mint mark until 1980, so the 1977 Philadelphia counterpart is listed simply as 1977 5C. One point of frequent confusion: the FS in this listing stands for Full Steps, a strike designation applied by grading services, and not for the initials of designer Felix Schlag, which were added below the Jefferson bust starting in 1966 and appear on every 1977-D.

Details

Felix Schlag designed both sides of the coin. The composition is 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel, with a weight of 5.00 grams, a diameter of about 21.2 mm and a plain edge. Denver struck 297,313,422 pieces in 1977, one of the larger nickel mintages of the decade. Full Steps is a strike-quality attribute rather than a separate issue, so no distinct mintage exists for FS coins; the same 297.3 million figure covers every 1977-D nickel.

Features

The obverse carries Schlag's left-facing bust of Jefferson, with IN GOD WE TRUST along the left periphery and LIBERTY and the date at right, separated by a star. Monticello dominates the reverse, captioned MONTICELLO with FIVE CENTS spelled out in an arc beneath, and E PLURIBUS UNUM and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the periphery. PCGS awards the Full Steps designation when five separate step lines at the base of Monticello are clearly visible and unbroken, disqualifying coins whose steps are interrupted by planchet flaws, contact marks or weak striking, though very slight weakness in a single step is tolerated. NGC required six full steps until 2004 and then split its designation into 5FS and 6FS, while PCGS did not follow, so a PCGS-designated FS coin may show either five or six steps.

Notable facts

• The PCGS auction record for a 1977-D without the Full Steps designation is $247 for an MS67 in December 2018, against $4,320 for an MS67FS in August 2021.
• PCGS catalogs the Full Steps coin as number 84099 and the non-FS coin as 4099.
• A 1977-D nickel struck on a cent planchet has been certified MS63 Red and Brown.
• The finest certified non-FS examples sit at a lower grade than the finest FS examples, a submission artifact created by owners of top-quality coins routinely sending them in with the Full Steps designation in mind.
• Certified populations in MS66 Full Steps have grown substantially over time, so any statement of condition rarity for this issue is meaningful only with a date attached.