1938-S Jefferson Nickel: San Francisco’s Debut Five Cents

San Francisco struck 4,105,000 Jefferson nickels in 1938, and that number is the whole story of this coin. It is fewer than Denver struck the same year, 5,376,000, which makes the San Francisco issue the scarcer of the two first-year branch-mint dates. Both are first-year coins, both carry the new design of Thomas Jefferson and Monticello, and both start at $1–$4 in our guide. But the S is the scarcer of the pair, and scarcity, even a small scarcity, is what collectors remember.

The first year of a design is always a collecting moment, and 1938 was a clean break: the Buffalo nickel, which had run since 1913, was gone, and the Jefferson nickel, which has run ever since, had arrived. Every Jefferson collection starts with 1938, and the branch-mint issues are the dates that separate a casual set from a serious one. The 1938-S is the scarcer of the two, and it is the date to look for first.

The first-year pair — D against S

The 1938-D and the 1938-S are twins with one difference: the mint mark and the mintage. Both are first-year Jefferson nickels with the same design, the same weight, and the same composition. The D was struck at Denver in 5,376,000, the S at San Francisco in 4,105,000, and Philadelphia struck the rest. A collector building a first-year set needs all three, and the S is the one that costs the most effort to find well preserved, because the run was the smallest and the West Coast circulation was hard.

It helps to hold the two side by side. Same portrait, same building, same date, and only the small letter to the right of Monticello tells them apart. That letter is the whole attribution, and it is the first thing to check on any 1938 nickel. A coin with no mint mark is a Philadelphia coin, a different and far more common date. The S is what makes this one a San Francisco issue, and the S plus the first-year date is what makes it the coin on this page.

Reading the S and the steps

The mint mark sits on the reverse, to the right of Monticello: an S means San Francisco, a D means Denver, and no mark means Philadelphia. It is a small letter and it wears early, so check it under a loupe with the light raking across the surface from the side. Do not confuse it with the wartime silver nickels of 1942–1945, where the mint mark is a large letter above the dome: that oversized mark is the silver test, and it belongs to a different set of years entirely.

Then look at the steps. At the base of Monticello there are steps, and on a sharply struck Jefferson nickel they are fully separated, with clean lines between them. Collectors call that Full Steps, and it earns a real premium, because most Jefferson nickels were struck with the steps partly merged. The steps are the grading story of the whole series: a coin can be uncirculated and still lack Full Steps, and a coin with Full Steps is worth more than the same grade without them. On a first-year coin, where the dies were fresh and the strikes were good, Full Steps is more common than in later years, but it is never guaranteed.

What our value guide records for this date

Our value guide has not yet researched the 1938-S grade by grade, so the table below is all dashes for now. That is the honest position: the catalog reviewed November 5, 2026, records the mintage and nothing else for this date, and we will not fill the grades with figures borrowed from elsewhere. The table will be completed as the grade-by-grade research lands.

Grade	Estimated value
Good (G-4)	—
Fine (F-12)	—
Extremely Fine (XF-40)	—
About Uncirculated (AU-50)	—
Mint State 60 (MS-60)	—
Mint State 65 (MS-65)	—

What the catalog does record is the mintage, and on this date the mintage does most of the talking. San Francisco struck 4,105,000 Jefferson nickels in 1938, against Denver’s 5,376,000 the same year and the tens of millions Philadelphia struck in later years. Our guide records $1–$4 as the starting range for the 1938-D and 1938-S, which is the floor of the date: a worn first-year coin is worth a few dollars, and an uncirculated one with Full Steps is worth considerably more.

San Francisco in 1938

The San Francisco Mint was an old mint by 1938, and it had struck the Buffalo nickel for twenty-five years before the Jefferson arrived. The change of design meant new dies, new hubs, and a fresh start, and the mint’s first Jeffersons were struck well, with the dies fresh and the strikes clean. That is why Full Steps is more common on the 1938 issues than on later dates: the dies were new, the presses were set, and the design had not yet worn down the way it would in the 1940s and 1950s.

The coins went into circulation on the West Coast, where five-cent pieces worked hard, and they stayed there. A 1938-S with a full date and a clear S is already a survivor. One with full steps as well is a coin to keep, and one with original lustre on top of that is the coin a first-year set is built around.

The coin at a glance

The Jefferson nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel, weighs 5.0 grams, measures 21.2 millimetres across, and has a plain edge. There is no precious metal in this coin, and the metal floor is —, because there is no metal floor to show: a worn common-date Jefferson nickel is a five-cent coin, and a worn 1938-S is a first-year date, and the difference is the date and the mint mark, not the metal. The design is Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and Monticello, his home, on the reverse, and it has been the five-cent piece since 1938.

Handling, storage, and getting a second opinion

Hold the coin by its edge, never across the faces, and never clean it. Cleaning strips the original surface and leaves hairlines that a grader will spot at once, and on a Jefferson nickel those hairlines can be mistaken for wear on the steps. Keep the coin in an acid-free flip or a proper holder, away from humidity, and do not store it loose with other coins where the date can rub away further. If the coin looks uncirculated, or if the steps are fully separated, a professional opinion from PCGS or NGC is worth the fee: certification settles the grade and the Full Steps designation in one step, and on the scarcer first-year branch-mint date that certainty matters.

Latest reported results for this coin

Your 1938-S questions, answered

How much is a 1938-S Jefferson nickel worth?

Our guide records $1–$4 as the starting range for the 1938-D and 1938-S. They are first-year coins, not rarities, and the worth of any single example depends on its condition and strike.

How many 1938-S Jefferson nickels were struck?

San Francisco struck 4,105,000 in 1938, the first year of the design. That is fewer than Denver’s 5,376,000 the same year, which makes the San Francisco issue the scarcer of the two first-year branch-mint dates.

What is the difference between the 1938-D and the 1938-S?

Only the mint mark and the mintage. Both are first-year Jefferson nickels with the same design, the same weight, and the same composition. The D was struck at Denver, the S at San Francisco, and the S had the smaller run, at 4,105,000 against Denver’s 5,376,000.

Where is the mint mark on a 1938-S Jefferson nickel?

On the reverse, to the right of Monticello. An S means San Francisco, a D means Denver, and no mark means Philadelphia. On the wartime silver nickels of 1942–1945 the mint mark is different: a large letter above the dome.

Does our value guide list estimates for the 1938-S yet?

Not yet. All six grades currently show “—” in our catalog, reviewed November 5, 2026. We show the gap rather than guessing, and the table will be completed as the grade-by-grade research is done.

Written to help you identify and enjoy this coin, not as financial advice. Figures come only from our own researched catalog; a single coin’s real worth always depends on its condition, its strike, and the market on the day.