1971-S 1c-50c Proof Set, No S Jefferson Nickel, 5 Coins PR

Original Packaging: A transparent plastic casing surrounded a black plastic insert containing the coins. This was inserted into a blue cardboard box upon which, in white script, appears “UNITED STATES PROOF SET • 1971.”

Commentary: At the time orders were being taken for 1971 Proof sets, in the fall of 1970, the aftermarket prices for the 1968­ to ­1970 sets were still quite high. Collectors and speculators, seeking another windfall, ordered a large number of sets for 1971. Perhaps due to disappointment with the new copper­-­nickel­ clad half dollar, and despite the fact that San Francisco Mint nickels were now available only as Proofs, the value of this year’s set never really advanced. More than 30 years later, after adjusting for inflation, uncertified 1971­-­S Proof sets seem quite a bargain.

The nickel was significantly modified for 1971, receiving new master hubs for both obverse and reverse. While its overall relief was lowered, its details were rendered more distinctly. This also extended the life of the dies. Though done primarily for the benefit of the circulating coinage, it gave a very different look to the Proof nickels of this and subsequent years.

By accident at the Philadelphia Mint, where all dies for all mints were made, the S mintmark was omitted from one die for nickel Proofs, and an estimated 1,655 coins were delivered in sets before any remaining error coins were retrieved and melted. Also popular, though worth not nearly as much, are several doubled­-­die obverse varieties for the cent, which exhibit doubling in the date and lettering. Finally, a very distinctive doubled­-­die obverse may be found on the half dollar, affecting the motto IN GOD WE TRUST.

The half dollars of this date were the first to be coined in the copper­-­nickel­ clad composition that had been standard for dimes and quarters since 1965. The harder alloy required some modifications to the half dollar, the most obvious being a reduction in the overall size of Kennedy’s portrait. The new coins also displayed much broader borders. It was about this time that the Mint began chromium-plating its dies for Proof coins. Not only did this enhance their wearing quality, permitting a greater number of strikes per die, but it also increased the number of coins that would possess some degree of frosting on their raised elements before this feature wore away. Though it is not really evident in examining 1971 Proofs, as the high certified value of cameo and ultra cameo coins confirms, it resulted in much nicer Proofs the following year.

Source: Whitman