This is the second of only two years having a large star between LIBERTY and the date. This feature was likely dropped because it had to be hand engraved into the master die each year. In the 1950s the U. S. Mint was loathe to create a new master hub incorporating such improvements. 1958 P nickels may be found with decent strikes and average luster, but these form just a minority of the mintage. A number were coined on dark planchets, and even the normally colored planchets for this issue were grainy and of generally poor manufacture.
This is the second of only two years having a large star between LIBERTY and the date. This feature was likely dropped because it had to be hand engraved into the master die each year. In the 1950s the U. S. Mint was loathe to create a new master hub incorporating such improvements. 1958 P nickels may be found with decent strikes and average luster, but these form just a minority of the mintage. A number were coined on dark planchets, and even the normally colored planchets for this issue were grainy and of generally poor manufacture.
