1962

Philadelphia struck 97,384,000 Jefferson nickels in 1962, continuing substantial early-1960s production. The coin is common in all grades and readily available in Mint State. Strike characteristics are generally strong, and Full Steps examples exist in adequate numbers for specialist demand at modest premiums.

Collectors building complete Jefferson nickel sets acquire the 1962 without difficulty. 1962 was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, the closest the United States and Soviet Union came to nuclear war during the Cold War. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, and James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi under federal protection.

The Jefferson nickels struck in 1962 circulated through one of the most tense years of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world within days of nuclear conflict, and Kennedy's resolution of the crisis through negotiated back-channel diplomacy set a precedent for Cold War crisis management that would influence American foreign policy for decades.