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In the early part of 1939, the mint changed the reverse design of the Jefferson Nickel by strengthening the steps of Monticello. As a result, the Jefferson Nickels generated from each mint (P-D-S) in 1939 produced examples with the original step design from 1938 and the new design, which was designated the Reverse of 1940. Identifying the differences between the Reverse of 1938 vs the Reverse of 1940 is a problematic for many Jefferson Nickel collectors. The purpose of this article is to both describe and show the key differences in the two reverse designs so that the readers can understand and correctly apply the knowledge in their pursuit of collecting 1939 Jefferson Nickels which as we will see, is more complicated than it appears.
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