1982-P Jefferson Nickel : A Collector's Guide (2024)

ByCharles MorganandHubert WalkerforCoinWeek Notes ….
The Jefferson Nickel entered into its 44th year of production in 1982, its 14th year of having mintmarks placed on the obverse, and the third year in which the Philadelphia Mint denoted its strikings with a “P” mintmark on the obverse.

The United States Mint took a two-year hiatus on manufacturing U.S. Mint Uncirculated Coin Sets starting in 1982, which means that nearly every Uncirculated coin produced by the Mint in ’82 or ’83 survives because collectors set these coins aside after they entered into commerce. There are a few exceptions to this rule and those are coins that the Mint pulled from production to package into Souvenir Sets that were sold at the Philadelphia and Denver branch mints.

In total, Philadelphia struck 292,355,000 nickels in 1982. With such a large mintage, there is no way to know with certitude the number of coins that survive in Mint State. We can model a guess, however, based on the number of United States Mint Uncirculated Sets that were sold in 1981 and 1984 (the year the program was brought back). In 1981, the Mint sold 2,908,415 sets. These sets included what was at the time thought to be the last of the Susan B. Anthony Dollar coins. In 1984, when Uncirculated Set production resumed, the Mint sold only 1,832,857 sets. It is reasonable to assume that had the Mint offered sets for sale in 1982, that demand would have fallen between these two figures and that the annual Mint Set production number would serve as a baseline for how many Mint Set coins likely survive.

With no sets offered for sale, the Federal Government would have to have a stockpile of millions of uncirculated 1982-P Jefferson Nickels (highly unlikely) or speculators would have had to hold back millions of coins immediately upon release. There is no doubt that speculators and dealers did market 1982 and 1983 coins to collectors on the basis that these sets were not made. Nevertheless, it’s unlikely that two to three million coins of each denomination and mintmark were held back for this purpose.

A more likely population of extant 1982-P Uncs would have that total in the hundreds of thousands, with a minority of them (perhaps 20 to 30 thousand) in grades approaching Gem.

What Is the 1982-P Jefferson Nickel Worth?

In circulated grades, the 1982-P Jefferson Nickel is worth five cents and you can still find them in circulation. Regardless, some collectors are willing to pay premiums for lightly circulated examples. We have seen XF and AU 1982-P nickels selling on eBay for about $1.50 each. This seems like a reasonable valuation.

Certified 1982-P nickels graded by PCGS and NGC trade for higher prices. The finest certified example graded by PCGS at the time of publication of this article is graded MS67+ with Full Steps. NGC applies two Full Step designations, one for coins that exhibit five full steps and another for coins that exhibit six full steps. To date, NGC has certified one coin as MS67+ 5FS, and four coins as MS65 6FS. These grades are relatively recent, as the leading nickel collections through the 2010s did not contain 1982-P Jefferson Nickels with grades higher than MS66FS.

Earning Full Steps Designation

To earn the designation of Full Steps, a Jefferson nickel must meet the following criteria:

In this graphic, you see that the steps are located on the design between the stylobate (a flat pavement section on which rest the four front columns of the design) and the foundation block at the base of the steps. Factors such as die condition, striking pressure, and incidental contact with other coins play a significant factor in whether a Jefferson Nickel will earn the Full Steps designation.

1982-P Jefferson Nickels in MS67FS have traded recently for prices between $1,500 and $4,000. It seems that the trend is downward as typically happens to common coins that are “conditionally rare” in high grades.

A toned PCGS MS67+FS coin has “traded hands” twice in the past year, realizing over $6,000 at a March 2023 GreatCollections sale before doubling that amount two months later at Heritage. The close proximity of the two sales as and wild swing in price leads us to urge collectors to be cautious when interpreting the data. The coin, nicely toned for a nickel, is one of three so far certified by PCGS.

Judging the future market levels for the 1982-P Jefferson Nickel in Superb Gem with Full Steps is difficult, but high-grade Full Steps nickels owe much of their premiums to Set Registry participants, while non-Full Step coins, even in high grade, are clearly not as desirable to this demographic. The difficulty of completing a Jefferson Nickel Full Steps set is unbelievably high, with several key issues and at least one coin that we’d identify as a “stopper”.

If you are the kind of collector that just wants to build a nice set of Jefferson Nickels, you can ignore the FS designation and purchase a nice MS65 or MS66 certified example of this date for roughly the same price as you would get for a Choice Uncirculated example offered in a 2″ x 2″ flip by your local dealer. In our opinion, this is the way to go.

* * *

Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Top Population:PCGS MS67+FS (3, 6/2024), NGC MS67+5FS (1, 6/2024), and CAC N/A(0:0 stickered:graded, 6/2024).

• PCGS MS67+FS #46401051: GreatCollections, March 5, 2023, Lot 1149166 – $6,019.88; Heritage Auctions, May 4, 2023, Lot 3705 – $12,600. Sea foam toning with shimmering gold and orange. Diagonal mark on Jefferson’s collar. On the reverse, there is a small mark above RI.
• PCGS MS67FS #45848022: GreatCollections, September 25, 2022, Lot 1136545 – View; Heritage Auctions, May 6, 2024, Lot 53118 – $3,120.
• PCGS MS67FS #47352719: GreatCollections, September 24, 2023, Lot 1381373 – View.
• PCGS MS67FS #47970805: GreatCollections, August 20, 2023 Lot 1422333 – View.
• NGC MS67 5FS #6343560-005: GreatCollections, August 13, 2023, Lot 1136544 – View.

* * *

Design

Obverse:

A left-facing bust of President Thomas Jefferson, including a colonial-era pigtail and strikingly similar in detail to the profile of Houdon’s 1789 bust, takes up the majority of the obverse. The top of his head almost touches the rim, and the barest of truncations is visible at the bottom where Jefferson’s left shoulder meets the edge of the coin. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST–which became the national motto in 1956–arcs clockwise along most of the length of the left side of the coin, starting from Jefferson’s chest and extending to his hairline. The inscriptions LIBERTY and the date 1982 run clockwise along the right side behind Jefferson. A small five-pointed star divides the two inscriptions.

Reverse:

The reverse features a front view of Monticello, Jefferson’s mansion near Charlottesville, Virginia. The polymath Jefferson designed the neoclassical building himself, based on architectural principles from the Italian Renaissance; the name “Monticello” comes from the Italian for “mound” or “little mountain”. The building loses much of its dimensionality in the flattened rendering, but the octagonal nature of the dome can still be interpreted, and better strikes reveal significant detail in the steps and portico.

Atop the reverse is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM (“Out of Many, One”). The name MONTICELLO–the placement of which on the coin was one of the revisions forced upon artist Felix Schlag by the Mint–is found in a straight line immediately under the building; the positions and spacing of the other inscriptions had to be adjusted to make room for it. The denomination FIVE CENTS forms a gently curving line beneath that, and the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs counterclockwise along the bottom edge of the coin.

Edge:

The edge of the 1982-P Jefferson nickel is plain or smooth, without reeding or edge lettering.

Designer

Felix Schlag was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1891. After receiving an education at the Munich University of Fine Arts, he moved to the United States in 1929. Schlag died in 1974. Yet while he did win numerous art contests and commissions throughout much of the remainder of his life, the Jefferson Nickel was his only coin design.

Coin Specifications

* * *