1941 Nickel Coin Value: Errors List, “D”, “S” & No Mint Mark Worth

1941 Nickel value ranges from $0.05 face value to $18,800. That record sale was a Grade 68 PR example sold through Heritage Auctions in June 2013. Wondering what yours could be worth? Upload a photo of your coin below for a quick value range, then scroll down to browse recent eBay sales and see what 1941 Nickels are actually selling for today.

 

1941 Nickel Value By Variety

Your 1941 nickel’s value depends heavily on where it was struck. If you already know the grade, jump to the Value Guides section below for exact pricing.

Also Read: Top 100 Most Valuable Jefferson Nickels Worth Money List (1938-Present)

 

Top 10 Most Valuable 1941 Nickel Worth Money

The $18,800 coin at the top of this chart is a PR 68 proof — the finest certified example of any 1941 nickel. That single coin sold at Heritage Auctions in June 2013 and still holds the record. Behind it, Denver and San Francisco Full Steps pieces in top grades have hit $11,400 and $8,913 respectively. Everything else clusters below $6,000.

If you think you’ve got a high-grade piece, get it slabbed before you sell. PCGS or NGC authentication confirms the grade and protects you from overpaying or getting lowballed. At these levels, a single grade point can mean thousands of dollars. And store your coins properly — climate-controlled environment, proper holders, no PVC flips.

 

History of the 1941 Nickel

The 1941 nickel is the last Jefferson five-cent piece struck before World War II changed everything about U.S. coinage. Here’s how it got there.

In 1938, the Mint held a public design competition to replace the Buffalo nickel, which had been a production headache since 1913 — the design just wouldn’t strike up cleanly. Out of 390 entries, Felix Schlag won the $1,000 prize on April 24, 1938. He’d only immigrated from Germany nine years earlier.

Schlag’s original reverse showed Monticello at a three-quarter angle with a tree beside it. The Mint rejected it and told him to simplify. The straight-on view of Monticello you see on your 1941 nickel is that revision.

After Pearl Harbor in December 1941, nickel metal became critical for armor plating. By mid-1942, the Mint switched to a wartime alloy — 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese. So the 1941 nickel is the last year of the original copper-nickel composition before the war interrupted everything.

The coin got commemorative redesigns in 2004 and 2005 for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. After those special editions, the Mint brought back the original reverse but updated the obverse — designer Jamie Franki reimagined Jefferson facing forward.

Fun fact: it now costs over seven cents to make a nickel. The coin literally loses money.

Also Read: Top 60+ Most Valuable Buffalo Nickels Worth Money

 

Is Your 1941 Nickel Rare?

For detailed information about your coin’s specific variety and current market value, our Coin Identifier and Value App provides the accurate rarity and value assessment for your coins.

 

Key Features of the 1941 Nickel

Felix Schlag’s Jefferson design ran from 1938 all the way to 2006 — 68 years. That kind of staying power tells you the design just works. It strikes well, it wears predictably, and it looks good doing both.

Here’s something most collectors don’t realize: Schlag based his portrait on a famous 1789 bust by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, a version of which sits in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. That classical source gives the profile a weight and authority that held up beautifully across billions of coins.

The Obverse of the 1941 Nickel

You’re looking at a left-facing profile of Thomas Jefferson — third President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. “IN GOD WE TRUST” sits to the left of the portrait. “LIBERTY,” a small five-pointed star, and “1941” follow the rim on the right.

When you’re grading, check Jefferson’s cheekbone first. Then look above his ear where the hair detail is finest. Those two spots show friction before anything else on the coin.

The Reverse of the 1941 Nickel

Flip it over and you’ll see Monticello, Jefferson’s Virginia estate, centered on the reverse. “E PLURIBUS UNUM” arcs above the building. Below it, three lines read “MONTICELLO,” “FIVE CENTS,” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

Now look at the staircase at the base of the building. This is where the money is. If you can count five or six fully unbroken horizontal lines across those steps, you’ve got a “Full Steps” (FS) coin — and that designation from PCGS or NGC can multiply the value dramatically.

Denver coins carry a “D” mint mark to the right of Monticello. San Francisco coins show an “S” in the same spot. Philadelphia pieces have no mint mark at all.

Other Features of the 1941 Nickel

The 1941 Jefferson nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel — the standard alloy used since the series started in 1938. It weighs 5 grams (0.176 oz), measures 21.21 mm (0.835 in) across, and has a plain edge with no reeding.

This composition gives the coin its familiar silver-white color and excellent durability. The 1941 nickel contains no silver — that didn’t happen until the wartime alloy arrived in mid-1942. If someone tries to sell you a 1941 nickel as a “silver coin,” walk away.

Also Read: Top 100 Rarest Nickels Worth Money (Most Expensive)

 

1941 Nickel Mintage & Survival Data

Philadelphia cranked out over 203 million nickels in 1941 — more than Denver and San Francisco combined. That’s roughly one nickel for every American alive at the time.

Proof coins show an 80.13% survival rate, which makes sense — collectors bought those on purpose and tucked them away. Business strikes tell a different story. All three mints lost over half their output to decades of pocket wear, bank melts, and general neglect. Survival rates hover between 48% and 50% across the board.

San Francisco had the lowest mintage at 43.4 million but actually shows the highest circulation strike survival rate at 50.06%. Could be West Coast collecting habits, or maybe those coins just didn’t circulate as hard. Either way, don’t assume low mintage automatically means rare. Most of those 100 million surviving Philadelphia nickels are heavily worn. The real scarcity is in high grades — that’s where premiums get serious.

Also Read: Jefferson Nickel Value (1938-Present)

 

The Easy Way to Know Your 1941 Nickel Value

Start by identifying the mint mark on the reverse side, to the right of Monticello — a “D” indicates Denver and “S” indicates San Francisco, while no mark means Philadelphia. Next, assess the coin’s condition by examining wear on high points like Jefferson’s cheekbone and Monticello’s steps; less wear translates to higher value.

Also look closely for minting errors such as doubled lettering or unusual features, which can significantly boost worth.

For the easiest and most accurate valuation, use our Coin Identifier and Value App. Simply snap a photo and let our advanced AI instantly analyze your coin’s mint mark, condition, and errors — delivering precise market values in seconds.

 

1941 Nickel Value Guides

Four varieties exist for the 1941 nickel, each with different collector demand and pricing.

Four Types of 1941 Nickels:

• 1941 No Mint Mark Nickel (Philadelphia) — Standard circulation strike with no mint mark
• 1941-D Nickel (Denver) — Bears “D” mint mark on reverse
• 1941-S Nickel (San Francisco) — Features “S” mint mark; includes the rare Large S variety
• 1941 Proof Nickel (Philadelphia) — Special collector strikes with mirror-like finish; just 18,720 produced

 

1941 No Mint Mark Nickel Value

With 203,265,000 struck, the Philadelphia issue absolutely dwarfs Denver’s 53,432,000 and San Francisco’s 43,445,000. You’ll find these in just about every junk box and roll lot out there.

Circulated pieces run $0.30 to $0.90. Uncirculated coins start around $1.20 at MS60 and climb to $25 at MS65. The top non-FS example — an MS68 — brought $2,875 at Heritage Auctions in April 2002. That record has stood for over two decades per PCGS auction records.

Full Steps examples are a different game entirely. A 1941 No Mint Mark MS67 FS realized $5,175 at a Superior Galleries auction in 2006. That’s the FS premium at work on a coin with a massive mintage.

Per PCGS CoinFacts, hundreds of examples sit at MS65 and MS66. But only a handful exist at MS67 and MS67 FS — genuine condition rarities despite all those millions struck.

Here’s how the 1941 Philadelphia nickel has performed at recent auctions.

Collector demand has stayed consistent, with momentum building in recent months.

Market activity score: 50/100 as of Sep 2026 — unchanged since Jun 2026. Currently at its 12-month peak.

 

1941-D Nickel Value

What would you pay for a single grade point? On the 1941-D, the answer is over $10,000. A standard MS68 sold for $630 at Heritage Auctions in January 2024. An MS68 with Full Steps? That brought $11,400 at Stack’s Bowers on August 22, 2018. Same grade, same date — the FS designation alone accounts for a huge gap.

Denver struck 53,432,000 pieces — about a quarter of Philadelphia’s output. The “D” mint mark sits on the reverse to the right of Monticello. Circulated examples run $0.10 to $3. Through MS63, these are common enough to buy by the roll. They get tougher at MS64, noticeably scarce at MS66, and genuinely hard to find at MS67 with only a few hundred graded.

That $11,400 record coin is documented in PCGS CoinFacts and listed in the D. L. Hansen Jefferson Nickels FS Set Registry — the kind of pedigree that registry set collectors chase.

Values stay flat through MS67, then explode at MS68 and above.

The Denver mint issue continues to attract strong collector interest.

Market activity score: 70/100 as of Sep 2026 — up 23 points from Jun 2026. 12-month peak: 77 (Aug 2026).

 

1941-S Nickel Value

Most people assume the lowest-mintage coin is automatically the hardest to find in high grade. Not here. The 1941-S is common enough through MS66 without Full Steps. The real wall hits at MS67 FS — fewer than a dozen are known per PCGS CoinFacts, with nothing grading finer.

San Francisco struck over 43 million of these, so the raw numbers aren’t the problem. Strike quality is. The dies were run way too long, and when erosion lines formed, workers just polished them away — taking the shallow step detail with them. That’s why a fully sharp gem 1941-S is a completely different kind of rare.

The auction record for the FS version is $8,913 for an MS67 FS at Heritage Auctions in 2006. A standard MS67 without Full Steps sold for $1,900 on eBay in August 2022. I think the 1941-S FS is one of the most underappreciated coins in the Jefferson series for what it takes to find one.

Here’s the auction history for this variety.

Trading patterns show shifting collector interest in the 1941-S.

Market activity score: 37/100 as of Sep 2026 — down 6 points from Jun 2026. 12-month peak: 43 (Aug 2026).

1941-S Large S Nickel Value

If you’re a cherrypicker, this is your coin. The 1941 Large S variety exists because the Philadelphia Mint introduced a new, larger S mintmark punch during 1941 for all denominations except the half dollar. That gave San Francisco two distinct mintmark styles this year — the familiar small S and a noticeably bolder Large S.

PCGS designates this as FS-501, and it’s considerably scarcer in Mint State than the standard small S. The auction record sits at $350 for an MS66 sold on eBay in March 2018.

What makes this variety a rabbit hole for specialists: Variety Vista documents 16 different die marriages for the 1941 Large S nickel, with possibly more waiting to be found. Before 1990, all mintmarks were hand-punched into working dies, so every single die is slightly different. The Large S is scarcer than the normal small S across all denominations, which keeps roll searchers and variety collectors coming back to it.

Auction data for the Large S variety shows where the market stands.

Here’s the current marketplace activity.

Market activity score: 43/100 as of Sep 2026 — unchanged since Jun 2026. 12-month peak: 54 (Feb 2026).

 

1941 Proof Nickel Value

Only 18,720 proof Jefferson nickels were struck in 1941. That’s the lowest mintage of any variety in the entire 1941 set. These were double-struck on polished planchets with specially prepared dies — mirror fields, razor-sharp detail, the whole package.

These are also the last pre-war proof nickels in the original copper-nickel composition. When proof production resumed after the war, everything was different — alloy, dies, striking environment. So the 1941 proof closes out an era.

Most examples trade between $18 and $110 depending on grade. PR68 is where things get serious — those typically realize around $9,000. The all-time record is $18,800 for a PR68 sold at Heritage Auctions on June 5, 2013, verified by PCGS CoinFacts. That’s the single most valuable coin in the entire 1941 nickel set.

Proof specimens have always commanded strong premiums at auction.

Quality-focused buyers continue to drive demand for these proofs.

Market activity score: 70/100 as of Sep 2026 — up 12 points from Jun 2026. Currently at its 12-month peak.

Also Read: 22 Rare Nickel Errors List with Pictures (By Year)

 

Rare 1941 Nickel Error List

Error coins are almost always worth more than their normal counterparts. The 1941 nickel — produced in huge numbers across three mints with hand-punched mintmarks — gives you several error types worth hunting for. Here are the big ones.

1. 1941-D/D RPM FS-501

This is the one to look for. Before 1990, mintmarks were hand-punched into working dies. Sometimes the first punch landed wrong — too faint, wrong angle — and the worker had to repunch. That’s how you get doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled mintmark images.

On FS-501, the Denver “D” was struck multiple times in slightly different positions, creating a clear D-over-D overlap. Population data shows just 2 examples graded at MS65 and 1 at MS66. That’s it. This is one of the rarest certified varieties in the entire 1941 set.

Price guide values range from $125 in MS63+ to $550 in MS66. Standard RPM varieties without the FS-501 designation typically bring $3 to $5, though dramatic examples can hit $25 or more.

2. 1941-S/S Large S RPM FS-502

This is a double rarity. You get the scarce Large S mintmark style combined with a repunched mintmark showing a secondary S positioned south of the primary one. Two collectible attributes on one coin.

The Large S punch was introduced during 1941 when Philadelphia phased in a new, bigger S for most denominations. When a worker then repunched that already-unusual mintmark slightly off position, FS-502 was born.

An MS65 specimen sold for $1,840 at a Bowers & Merena auction in June 2010. Gem examples typically show silver-gray surfaces with full original luster.

3. 1941-S Inverted MM FS-503

This one sparks arguments at coin shows. The Cherry Pickers’ Guide says the official Inverted S is characterized by the mintmark being tightly tucked into the corner of Monticello, with several die scratches visible along the rim. That’s how you identify it.

Here’s the debate: experts can’t agree on whether the “S” is truly upside-down or just struck at an odd angle. The 1941-S mintmark has symmetrical curves and serifs top and bottom, so telling the difference is genuinely tough. PCGS has attributed the variety, and certified examples trade among specialists — but authentication takes careful examination under magnification.

Controversial or not, it’s a collectible product of the hand-punching era.

4. Additional 1941 Nickel Errors Worth Knowing

Beyond the catalogued PCGS varieties above, several other error types show up on 1941 nickels:

Off-Center Strikes: When the planchet wasn’t centered properly in the press, you get a shifted design with a blank crescent of unstruck metal. The sweet spot for value is about 50% off-center with a full date still showing — those can bring $75 to $100 or more.

Struck on a Cent Planchet (Off-Metal/Wrong Planchet): Once in a while, a nickel die accidentally struck a Lincoln cent planchet. The result is copper-colored, noticeably smaller (19mm vs. the standard 21.2mm), and lighter than normal. These wrong planchet errors bring $750 to $2,000 depending on condition. An MS65 RB (Red-Brown) example sold for approximately $1,100 at Heritage Auctions.

Mated Pairs: Two planchets fed into the press at the same time, striking each other. The two coins fit together like puzzle pieces. Known 1941 nickel mated pairs sell for $2,000 to $5,500 depending on condition and impression clarity. An MS65 and MS65 FS mated pair from Heritage Auctions realized $2,760.

Die Cuds: When a chunk of the die breaks off at the rim, it leaves a raised blank bump on the coin’s edge. Significant 1941 nickel cuds can reach $100 to $150 at auction.

 

Where to Sell Your 1941 Nickel?

Now that you’ve determined your coin’s worth, are you wondering about the best online platforms to sell it? I’ve got you covered with a comprehensive guide to these websites, complete with detailed descriptions, advantages, and drawbacks.

Check out now: Best Places To Sell Coins Online (Pros & Cons)

 

1941 Nickel Market Trend

Market interest: 55,180 collectors tracking this coin as of Sep 2026 — up 900 from Mar 2026. 12-month peak: 59,710 (Feb 2026).

*Market Trend Chart showing the number of people paying attention to this coin.

 

FAQ about 1941 Nickel Value

1. What makes a 1941 nickel valuable?

Three things: Full Steps designation (five or six unbroken lines on Monticello’s staircase), high grade (MS67 or better), and recognized variety or error status like the RPM FS-501 or Large S mintmark. A common circulated example is worth under a dollar, but an MS68 FS Denver piece fetched $11,400 at Stack’s Bowers in 2018.

2. Does the 1941 nickel contain silver?

No. It’s 75% copper and 25% nickel — zero silver. The Mint didn’t add silver to nickels until mid-1942 with the wartime alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese. Anyone telling you a 1941 nickel is silver is wrong.

3. How much is a circulated 1941 nickel worth?

In Good to Fine condition, expect $0.10 to $0.90 depending on the mint. About Uncirculated pieces might bring $1.50 to $2.50. There’s no silver or gold content to fall back on, so condition and strike quality are what push a 1941 nickel above face value.

4. What is the rarest 1941 nickel variety?

The 1941-D/D RPM FS-501 — only 2 known at MS65 and 1 at MS66 in PCGS population data. The 1941 PR68 proof is also extremely rare at that grade level, with its $18,800 sale at Heritage Auctions in 2013 setting the all-time record for any 1941 nickel.

5. How do I identify the Full Steps designation on my 1941 nickel?

Look at the staircase at the base of Monticello on the reverse. Under 10x magnification, count the horizontal lines — you need five or six fully unbroken lines running left to right across the steps. Any break, merged lines, or gouges disqualify it. If yours looks clean, submit it to PCGS or NGC for the official FS designation. That attribution alone can multiply the value.

6. What is the 1941-S Large S variety and how do I spot it?

The 1941-S Large S (FS-501) was created when the Philadelphia Mint introduced a new, larger S mintmark punch in 1941. It’s noticeably bolder and wider than the standard small S. Compare yours to reference images — the difference is pretty obvious once you know what to look for. Variety Vista documents 16 different die marriages for this variety, and it’s scarcer than the common small S in Mint State.

7. Are 1941 nickel errors worth submitting to PCGS or NGC?

For anything you think is worth $100 or more, absolutely. Certification confirms the error is genuine (not post-mint damage), assigns a grade, and puts it in a tamper-evident holder. That boosts buyer confidence and auction value significantly. RPMs, off-center strikes, and wrong-planchet errors are all commonly submitted.

8. What is the most expensive 1941 nickel ever sold?

A 1941 PR68 Proof that realized $18,800 at Heritage Auctions on June 5, 2013. Runner-up is the 1941-D MS68 Full Steps at $11,400 from Stack’s Bowers on August 22, 2018. Both are verified in PCGS CoinFacts auction records.

9. What is the most expensive Jefferson nickel ever sold overall?

• 1954-S MS67 FS — sold in 2020 for $35,250
• 1969-D MS65 FS — sold in 2021 for $33,600
• 1938-D MS68+ FS — sold in 2022 for $33,600
• 1964 SMS SP68 FS — sold in 2016 for $32,900
• 1949 MS67 D/S — sold in 2014 for $32,900
• 1942 MS64 D/D D/Horizontal D — sold in 2006 for $32,200

10. What was special about the 1941 nickel design competition?

The Jefferson nickel came from a public competition the Mint announced in January 1938. Out of 390 entries, Felix Schlag — a German immigrant — won on April 24, 1938, earning $1,000. His original reverse showed a three-quarter view of Monticello with a tree, but the Mint rejected it and asked for a simpler front-facing view. That revised design is what you see on your 1941 nickel. Schlag didn’t get credit on the coin itself until 1966, when his initials “FS” were finally added below Jefferson’s portrait.