1949-S Jefferson Nickel
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 9,716,000 made
- Mintage
- 9,716,000
- Metal
- 75% copper, 25% nickel
- 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 1949-S Jefferson Nickel worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full steps on Monticello (5FS or 6FS)
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1949-S Jefferson Nickel rare?
- Somewhat. 9,716,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1949-S Jefferson Nickel silver?
- No. It's 75% copper, 25% nickel. The only silver nickels are the 1942 to 1945 wartime coins with a large mint mark above Monticello.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1949 Jefferson Nickel?
- On the reverse, to the right of Monticello. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1949 are scarcer?
- The 1951-S at 7,776,000. So the 1949-S is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1949-S Jefferson Nickel coins were made?
- 9,716,000.
What to check on your 1949-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 1949-D (36 million made).
- 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.
The story of the 1949-S
Output at San Francisco slipped to 9,716,000 in 1949, from 11 million the year before. After that, San Francisco didn't make another until 1951.
The other mints made far more that year: 1949 alone came to 61 million, roughly 6.2 for every 1949-S. If you're checking a pile of 1949 coins, the S is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1950 (9,796,000) and the 1948-S (11,300,000).
Across San Francisco's 19 Jefferson Nickel issues, the hardest to find is the 1938-S with 4,105,000 made. The 1949-S is on the scarcer side of the middle. No Jefferson Nickel of the 1940s had a smaller run.
Return to copper-nickel and the 1950-D (1946 to 1955)
The prewar alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel returned in 1946, along with the small mint mark to the right of Monticello. Output was modest in the late 1940s as wartime demand eased. The 1950-D, with only 2.6 million coined, became the key date of the series. Speculators hoarded it in rolls almost at once, so it is found in uncirculated condition more often than worn.
Overmintmarks from this period include the 1949-D/S, 1954-S/D and 1955-D/S, created when a die was punched with one mint mark and then corrected with another. San Francisco stopped striking nickels after 1954. Philadelphia struck a low 8.3 million in 1955. Coins from these years are common in uncirculated condition, but full steps examples are scarce for many dates, especially from Denver and San Francisco.
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 | 1949 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 9,716,000 |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 75% copper, 25% nickel |
| Weight | 5 grams |
| Diameter | 21.21 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Felix Schlag |
Other 1949 Jefferson Nickel issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 Jefferson Nickel | 60,652,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1949-D Jefferson Nickel | 36,498,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1949-S Jefferson Nickel | 9,716,000 | Circulation strike | – |
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.