1965 5C SMS, CAM SP66CAM Certification #12070946, PCGS #84197

Circulation Mintage: 136,131,380 Special Mint Set: 2,360,000 Designed by: Felix 0. Schlag Composition: 0.75 part copper, 0.25 part nickel Diameter: 21.2 mm Weight: 76.16 grains (5 grams) Edge: Plain The 1965 Special Mint Set (SMS) Jefferson Nickel was meant to replace proof issues during the coin shortage of the early 1960's. These mint sets were special in that they were made with higher standards than regular mint sets. However the US Mint did not prepare the dies and planchets as carefully as they do for proof coins. In this first year of SMS coins, all SMS specimens were struck at the San Francisco Mint with no mint mark (as were all coins for the next three years). Although the coins are dated 1965, they were actually struck in 1966. The first few coins struck from new dies for these SMS sets can look very close to proof coins. For that reason they are included in the Jefferson Nickel proof set collection. There are three die states in the SMS type series. First is Deep Cameo contrast with mirrored field. The second is a Cameo Contrast and the third is no contrast between the devices and the field.