U.S. Mint coin reference

1946–2000: Jefferson Nickel (Standard Copper-Nickel Composition Resumed)

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Coin specifications and design

Years made: 1946-2000

Country: United States

Denomination: Five cents

Category: Circulating coin

Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel

Silver fineness: None

Silver weight: 0.00 oz ASW

Weight: 5.00 g

Diameter: 21.2 mm

Thickness: 1.95 mm

Edge: Plain

Designer: Felix Schlag

Design identification

Obverse: Thomas Jefferson portrait.

Reverse: Monticello.

1946–2000: Jefferson Nickel (Standard Copper-Nickel Composition Resumed) history

After the wartime alloy ended, the Jefferson nickel returned to its standard copper-nickel composition in 1946. Felix Schlag's Monticello reverse remained the regular design through the end of the twentieth century.

Mintmark placement changed over this long span, proofs and circulation strikes were made in different periods, and step detail varies sharply. Those facts are more useful than treating every coin from 1946-2000 as identical.