FS (full steps)

How to read it

The Jefferson nickel, introduced in 1938, has shown Monticello on the reverse in every year but 2004 and 2005. NGC says the steps are often weakly struck on circulation coins, and David W. Lange, writing for NGC, explains why: the steps sit opposite the highest point of relief on the obverse, so the metal often fails to fill the deepest parts of the die in a single strike, and the lowest steps come out weak or missing. PCGS gives FS to a nickel with at least 5 steps present. CAC Grading asks for all six steps fully struck and separated, uninterrupted by weakness or marks. NGC has used 5FS and 6FS since 2004, for mint state nickels only; before that its FS meant six steps, and those coins now count as 6FS. Proof nickels do not get the designation: NGC expects proofs to have full steps, and CAC Grading excludes them. Lange writes that among the wartime nickels of 1942 to 1945, most with 5FS or 6FS are from the Denver Mint (D), and San Francisco ones are rare.

Also searched as: 5FS, 6FS, FS nickel, full steps.

FS on the coin itself

The letters FS on a Jefferson nickel's obverse, below the portrait since 1966, are a different thing: NGC notes they are the initials of the designer, Felix Schlag, and have nothing to do with the steps designation.

When full steps are easier to find

NGC says full-step nickels are easier to find early in the series, before striking quality dropped from 1950, and that after the design's relief was lowered in the late 1980s the strikes became consistently sharper.