This issue is very common in grades EF - MS. Choice mint state examples are readily available, but their value is maintained through demand from type collectors. Gem pieces are somewhat more challenging to locate but may be acquired with a bit of patience. Coins in the lower circulated grades having readable dates are not common, as this shallow feature wore off quickly. Dateless coins are still identifiable by their distinctive reverse type but have little value. Original rolls may still exist for this issue, due to widespread hoarding at the time.
This issue is usually well struck, though the obverse rim and LIBERTY are sometimes indistinct. The luster is typically quite brilliant, though this is may be muted by the toning seen on so many examples. The fields of all Type 1 nickels are textured as on the original models, and this often gives the luster a shimmering quality.
Varieties:
- One reverse die was overly polished, resulting in a 3-1/2 leg variety on which the right foreleg is diminished (FS-1913-901)
- A cud die break is known that caused the bison’s head to merge with the rim. This position is so commonly seen for cuds that I call it the “capped bison,” for that is what it appears to be. Due to its close proximity to the rim and the resulting die weakness, the bison’s head became the frequent location of such die breaks, as was the tail for the very same reason.
| Philadelphia | Denver | San Francisco | |
| Type 1 | 30,992,000 | 5,337,000 | 2,105,000 |
| Type 2 | 29,857,186 | 4,156,000 | 1,209,000 |