1943-S Jefferson Nickel
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 104,060,000 made
- Mintage
- 104,060,000
- Metal
- 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese
- Weight
- 5 g
- Diameter
- 21.21 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1943-S Jefferson Nickel worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.0563 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full steps on Monticello (5FS or 6FS)
- A known variety for the date: 1943/2-P Jefferson Nickel Overdate
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1943-S Jefferson Nickel rare?
- Not by date: 104 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1943-S Jefferson Nickel silver?
- Yes. It's 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese and holds 0.0563 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1943 Jefferson Nickel?
- Large mint mark above the dome of Monticello on the reverse, including a "P" for Philadelphia, the first ever used. A large mint mark means a 35% silver war nickel. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1943 are scarcer?
- The 1938-S at 4,105,000, the 1939-S at 6,630,000, the 1948-S at 11,300,000, plus 7 more. So the 1943-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1943-S Jefferson Nickel coins were made?
- 104,060,000.
What to check on your 1943-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1943-D (15 million made).
- Look above Monticello for the large P, D or S. Every genuine nickel dated 1943 to 1945 is the silver wartime alloy and carries one. A 1944 nickel with no mint mark is a known counterfeit.
- Look for the 1943/2-P Jefferson Nickel Overdate (it's on Philadelphia coins, not this one).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. The steps of Monticello are the key: coins with 5 or 6 full steps (5FS / 6FS) sell for large premiums. On the obverse, check Jefferson's cheekbone and hair.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1943-S
San Francisco ramped up hard in 1943: 104,060,000 coins, about 3.2 times the 1942 run. In 1944 the figure was 22 million.
1943-D came to 15 million and 1943-P came to 271 million, so neither mint's 1943 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across San Francisco's 19 Jefferson Nickel issues, the hardest to find is the 1938-S with 4,105,000 made. The 1943-S is one of the easier ones. Within the 1940s it's 25th smallest of 31, between the 1947 (95 million) and the 1944-P (119 million).
Wartime silver nickels (1942 to 1945)
Nickel was needed for the war, so in late 1942 the Mint switched to an alloy of 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver and 9 percent manganese. To show the change, a large mint mark was placed above Monticello. For the first time Philadelphia used a P. Early 1942 nickels in the old alloy have the mint mark to the right of the building.
The 1943/2-P overdate and the 1943-P doubled eye variety are popular. Many silver nickels were pulled from circulation and melted in later decades when silver rose, but they remain easy to find. Counterfeits dated 1944 without a mint mark were made by Francis Henning, so any 1944 nickel without a P, D or S above the dome is fake. Survivors often show dark or uneven toning from the manganese. Fully struck steps are scarce on several dates.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1943
To save copper for the war effort, cents were struck in zinc-coated steel. A handful of bronze planchets left in the presses produced the famous 1943 copper cents.
How to recognize it
Felix Schlag's portrait shows Thomas Jefferson facing left with IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY and the date. The reverse shows the front of Monticello, Jefferson's home, with MONTICELLO and FIVE CENTS below. The mint mark was to the right of the building until 1964 (above the dome on wartime silver nickels) and moved to the obverse, near the date, in 1968. Schlag's initials FS were added below the bust in 1966.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Jefferson Nickel (1938–2003) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 104,060,000 |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese |
| Weight | 5 grams |
| Diameter | 21.21 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Silver content | 0.0563 troy oz (1.750 g) |
| Designer | Felix Schlag |
Other 1943 Jefferson Nickel issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943-P Jefferson Nickel | 271,165,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0563 oz |
| 1943-D Jefferson Nickel | 15,294,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0563 oz |
| 1943-S Jefferson Nickel | 104,060,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0563 oz |
Mintage: United States nickel mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.