Tuesday, June 01, 2010

1941-S Nickel, Large or Small?

Do you have a nickel and want to find out its value? Leave a comment

Found a 1941-S nickel from the good old U.S. of A. which has little extra value but in the Red Book it does have a footnote.

Apparently both a large and small mintmark exist. Basically the mint made letter punches of different sizes but slowly throughout the years the settled on a standard size. The first standard was a small size lettering but then they moved to a slightly larger one.

By 1941 the San Fransisco mint changed over to the larger S for it's coin but some of them had already been struck with the older small S. Allegedly only 10 dies were punched with the larger S making it more scarce but at the end they are of equal value in low grades.


With only one 1941-S coin in hand I have nothing to compare it with. So I stopped by The Lincoln Cent Resource which has great information on just this topic. The great part about government standards is that they generally carry over to other coins. So reading a few forum post I can safely say that the pictures of the Lincoln cent variety are the same for the nickels.

Image source: http://www.lincolncentresource.com/San_Fransisco_Mintmark_Styles.html

So looking at a close up of mine I see the notches at the serif (sometimes called Trumpet Tail). Also it is more square not as curvy-round.


I must conclude it is a small variety, then again from what I read there are sub-varieties.
So until I get my hands on a second 1941-S, I'm sure I have a few but I'm too busy to look now, I will say with 90% certainty this is a small.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States of America
Year: 1941-S (small mintmark)
Mintage: 43,445,000
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Value: $0.10

Do you have an older nickel and want to find out its value? Leave a comment and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

13 dollars worth, for Comments/Questions click here.:

Kelly said...

very interesting. its neat, for me, to see how money has changed over the years...even in the most subtle ways.

Man said...

They are constantly modifying coins and bills in these ridiculously small ways. While I know a few of them there are collectors who obsess with the smallest changes that each year has dozens of varieties.

Man said...

Israel 500 Pruta 1955 bill

Can't see the picture but it's about $10.00 on average.

Unknown said...

i also have a 1941 s nickel with a small mintmark and i have a hard time believing its only worth 10 cents. its disappointing.

Man said...

1941 s nickel with a small mintmark and i have a hard time believing its only worth 10 cents.

That is in good (G-4) it may be a little in higher grades but the one I found was not pretty.

Anonymous said...

I found a 1920 nickel. How much is it worth?

Man said...

1920 nickel about $1.50

David M said...

I posted about finding a 1941 S Nickel earlier and when I saw this post I took another look at it. I am almost completely sure that I have the Large variety of S after looking at it with a weak microscope. What does this do for the coin's value (It's in Fine Condition)?

Man said...

1941 S Nickel earlier and when I saw this post I took another look at it. I am almost completely sure that I have the Large variety of S after looking at it with a weak microscope.

In fine it is about $0.15 only in very high grade will there be an increase but not much just 10% more.

Unknown said...

I am also sad that small mint mark variation of the 1941-s! I wanted to know if it had any silver in it?

Man said...

I wanted to know if it had any silver in it?

No the silver nickels started in 1942 and ended by 1945. You can tell the silver because the mintmark is big and above the building.

Unknown said...

1941 d nickel what is that worth??

Unknown said...

I. Have a 1941 nickel with no mint mark. Whats it worth?