San Francisco coined fewer than half as many nickels as it did in 1947, but the overall quality of these pieces is superior. Typically, 1948 S nickels are quite lustrous but with strikes that vary from fairly sharp to simply average. Frequent re-polishing of worn dies kept the obvious signs of erosion to a minimum, though it tended to give the lettering and other shallow details a rather slender appearance.
The several RPM varieties are all quite minor and of interest only to the most dedicated specialists.
Mintage:
| Philadelphia | Denver | San Francisco |
| 89,348,000 | 44,734,000 | 11,300,000 |