Owner Comments:

NAME: The Enchanter

Mintage: 37.1 Million
Full Step Availability: 20%
Date/mm Information: The Denver Mint's good performance in turning out wartime nickels with far above average eye appeal ended here, and most of the 1945-D nickels are lustrous enough, but lack the flash and sharpness of earlier ones. Connoisseurship is advised.

Coin Description:
A coin of nearly indescribable beauty; the initial response to this coin is typically to reject it outright due to the dappled chestnut toning at the peripheries which is not most coin collector's cup of tea. But to do so would be to forego one of the finest 45-D nickels in existence. I submit that the peripheral toning is the only thing holding this coin back from an MS68 5FS grade. The strike is hammered, the steps are 5 full and razor sharp, the windows and doors are all complete, and the queue is absolutely sculpted. The luster is off the charts though more evident from an in hand inspection or from the slab photo which can be seen by viewing my "old fatty" war nickel collection. And all of this is to say nothing of the incredible eye appeal of this coin. Past the dappled chestnut is a swirling kaleidoscope of pastel pinks, yellows, and greens that absolutely mesmerize the viewer in hand. The visual impact of this coin is so phenomenal that it has replaced and Appalachian Jefferson graded MS67*T in my Jefferson Nickel Registry collection (1938-64).

Comments:
I purchased this coin for $103.50 on 3/8/2020 from eBay as an NGC MS67 (173412-017) in an old fatty holder that predated the 5FS designation.

So I submitted the coin for regrade on 7/27/2020 and paid the $21.50 adjusted grading fee after S&H bringing my total investment to $125. There was little doubt that the coin would upgrade to MS67 5FS and it now has a price guide value of $450.