1946

Philadelphia's 1946 Jefferson nickel mintage reached 161,116,000 coins, restoring the standard copper-nickel composition after the 1942-1945 Wartime Silver period. The mintmark position returned to the small below-dome location on the reverse, and the large above-Monticello mintmark placement used for Wartime Silver coins was discontinued. The coin is common in all grades and readily available in Mint State.

Strike characteristics are generally strong, and Gem-quality examples with Full Steps exist in adequate numbers for specialist demand at modest premiums. Collectors building complete Jefferson nickel sets acquire the 1946 without difficulty, and type collectors can select from abundant postwar Mint State examples for representative purposes.

1946 was the first full year of peacetime in the United States after World War II. Demobilization was reshaping the economy and society, returning veterans were entering civilian life through the GI Bill and other programs, and the country was adjusting to the new postwar order. The Jefferson nickels struck that year circulated through a nation beginning the transformation that would define the late 1940s and 1950s: suburbanization, baby boom, television, and Cold War anxiety.