David Hall:
The 1946 is one of the tougher dates of the 1940s to acquire in Gem condition. It all goes back to the 1950s and 1960s when uncirculated rolls of coins were saved. The focus was on mintage, so the low mintage coins were saved and the higher mintage coins were somewhat ignored. So the 1946, with its relatively high mintage, was not very desireable and not as many uncirculated rolls were saved as was the case for the lower mintage coins, the 1946-S for example. Today, the 1946 is much scarcer in Gem condition than the 1946-S, even though the 1946-S has less than 10% the original mintage of the 1946.