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1938-D Jefferson nickel value guide -- first-year mintage, and grade-by-grade prices.
Condition drives the price — full breakdown below.
5,376,000 struck — against the other key dates in the Jefferson Nickel series.
Bars are scaled to keep the smallest mintages visible; the exact figure is printed on every row. Mintage is coins struck, not coins surviving — melting and circulation wear thin those numbers further.
First year of the Jefferson Nickel series; Denver's mintage of 5.376 million is far below Philadelphia's 1938 mintage, making it the scarcer first-year issue in circulated grades.
No proofs were struck at the Denver mint in this era -- proofs were Philadelphia-only.
Other dates and varieties in this series
What to check before you pay, specific to this date and its 5,376,000-coin mintage.
The same date runs from about $0.55 worn to $19 at the top of the scale — a 35× spread. Nearly all of that gap is condition, not the date on the coin, so work out where an example sits on the table above before deciding whether its asking price is fair.
Grading fees would eat much of what this coin is worth, so raw examples are normal here and nothing to be wary of. Judge it on clear photos of both sides and the seller's track record instead.
Every Jefferson Nickel listed here is priced by an individual seller, so the same coin in the same grade can differ by a wide margin on any given day. Sort by price, check Metal Points and order history for a sense of the seller's record, and message them if the photos don't show enough to grade confidently.
About the 1938-D Jefferson Nickel
Value depends heavily on condition. A well-worn example brings closer to $0.55, while an uncirculated one can reach $19 or more.
First year of the Jefferson Nickel series; Denver's mintage of 5.376 million is far below Philadelphia's 1938 mintage, making it the scarcer first-year issue in circulated grades.
For anything you believe is a key date or an error, professional grading protects both buyer and seller by settling condition and authenticity before money changes hands.
The rest of the series, with what each is worth at the top of the grade scale.
List it free on PeerMetals — flat 2.75% seller fee, zero listing fees, 1–3 day payouts.
