1963(P) are superior in overall quality to their Denver Mint cousins, but finding a really desirable specimen will still be challenging. To sustain the record mintages of the early 1960s, it appears that both mints increased the set distance of all dies to extend their useful life. Thus, most coins of these years did not completely fill the dies, exposing unstruck areas of rough planchet on the high points of the design.
There are numerous doubled-dies for 1963(P) nickels, but these are confined almost exclusively to the proofs. Since proof dies were later used to coin currency pieces, these varieties should have repeated, but the poor striking of non-proof nickels probably prevented any doubling from being evident.
The 1963(D) is one of the more poorly made entries in the Jefferson series. Worn dies and poor strikes are the norm, with scarred and rough planchets thrown into the mix. Full step coins are very rare.
For such a large mintage there are remarkably few varieties, all of them too minor to note.
Mintage:
| Philadelphia | Denver | Proof |
| 178,851,645 | 276,829,460 | 3,075,645 |