Jefferson Nickels An Underrated Series

When I first started collecting coins, Jefferson Nickels was the first series I assembled.  At first, I started with roll searching.  Some of the results are posted on this site.  After several months of collecting and reading some of the forums such as Coin Talk and Coin Community, I chose to upgrade my set to uncirculated coins.

I passed the coins from roll searching to kids which they enjoy looking at.  Jefferson Nickels are not hard to find from dealers.  What is hard to find is quality coins for a bargain.  The war nickels which are 35% silver are hard to find nice for under $100 a set.  Also, the 1942D and 1939D usually have a higher price tag with them.  The low mintage 1950D can be found almost anywhere at a good price.  These coins were hoarded as soon as they came out so most of the mintage survives in BU.

1955 Rainbow Toned Proof Set

I haven't posted in a while and want to get back in the habit of doing so.  Here are some photos of my 1955 proof set.  The top photo shows the set with the 1953 & 1954 set in a Capital Plastics holder. Enjoy!

Coin Roll Hunting: Nickel Bank Box Break #5

I purchased a box of nickels from my bank and these are the results:


Pre 1959: 16
Silver War Nickels: 0
2009: 0
Total EF - BU Coins For Albums: 119
Key Find(s):1971 (BU)


Verdict: These were customer wrapped rolls.  I haven't seen any machine wrapped rolls in a while.  I was skunked on silver war nickels and 2009s.  The rolls did contain some nice coins and I was able to upgrade a few of the coins in my collection

Coin Roll Hunting: Nickel Bank Box Break #4

I purchased a box of nickels from my bank and these are the results:


Pre 1959: 19
Silver War Nickels: 1 (1945P)
2009: 0
Total EF - BU Coins For Albums: 136
Key Find(s): 1945P, 1968 (BU, Rainbow Toned)

Verdict: These were customer wrapped rolls.  I kept up the 1 silver war nickel per $100 trend, although the dry streak of 2009 nickels continued.  I found a nice assortment of circulated 1940's and 1950's in this lot.

Coin Roll Hunting: Nickel Bank Box Break #3

I purchased a box of nickels from my bank and these are the results:

• Pre 1959: 9
• Silver War Nickels: 0
• "S" Mint Marks: 8
• 2009: 0
• Total EF - BU Coins For Albums: 125
• Key Find(s): 1939, 1954D(AU)

Verdict: Since I was shorted in the last box, I picked up this lot at another branch.  The teller seemed confused when I inquired about a box and asked "how much that was?".  So I ended up with $100 in customer rolls.  I was a little worried about the quality I might receive from these since I've been getting terrible condition coins in customer rolls lately.  After opening several of these rolls, I got the feeling these were already searched.  This was later validated when I looked at the total numbers. There were no war nickels, 2009 dates, and very little pre 1959.  Normally this would of been a complete waste of time; except I did find some great coins!  The previous roll hunter left me a complete run of BU 1990 - 2004 (P & D), most 2005 - 2012 in BU, and many 1980's in BU.  I was able to fill a large chunk of my uncirculated set, and upgrade some other pieces!  Even my circulated set go some nice upgrades.

Coin Roll Hunting: Nickel Bank Box Break #2

I purchased a box of nickels from my bank and these are the results:

• Pre 1959: 15
• Silver War Nickels: 1 (1945P)
• "S" Mint Marks: 0
• 2009:  0
• Total EF - BU Coins For Albums: 120
• Key Find(s): 1945P 

Verdict: After the last bank box I was excited to try another. Unfortunately, this box was resealed and I was shorted 3 rolls!  There was a mix of machine and customer rolls in the box. While I did find a war nickel in this box, nothing else really stood out.  I was able to fill holes in mine and my daughter's set.

Coin Roll Hunting: Nickel Bank Box Break

I purchased a box of nickels from my bank and these are the results:

• Pre 1959: 17
• Silver War Nickels: 1 (1943P)
• "S" Mint Marks: 3
• 2009:  2 (2009P (AU) 2009D (Rusted))
• Total EF - AU Coins For Albums: 158
• Key Find(s): 1938 (EF) 1941, 1943P, 1962 (BU) 2009 (AU)

Verdict: After the last couple of bad lots of customer rolls, I decided to get a bank box to help reduce the chance of receiving other CRH's tailings. I'm sold on getting nickel boxes although the initial cost is more than I've been spending.  Also, there is a lot more back end work cashing in all of the unwanted coins.  For the first time, I pulled a silver war nickel and two 2009s (even though one of the 2009s had to go to the scrap pile for condition).  While there were still some rusted, run over, and corroded pieces, the percentage was much lower than the customer rolls I've been searching.

Coin Roll Hunting: 5 Roll Nickel Break # 4

I purchased 5 rolls of nickels from my bank and these are the results:

• Pre 1959: 3
• "S" Mint Marks: 0
• Total EF - AU Coins For Albums: 8
• Key Find(s): 1948(EF)

Verdict: These were customer rolled nickels from the same account holder that produced poor results. The majority of the coins were corroded or rusted.  I did get a few older coins, however, anything minted in the last 30 years was completely ruined.  The coins looked like they were recovered from a flood.

5 Roll Nickel Break # 3

I purchased 5 rolls of nickels from my bank and these are the results: 

• Pre 1959: 1 (1940)
• "S" Mint Marks: 1 (1969S)
• Total EF - AU Coins For Albums: 15
• Key Find(s): 1940(AU), 1966(Unc.) 1971D(AU)

Verdict: These were customer rolled nickels that produced great results. There were multiple corroded and cruddy pieces mixed in with the brillant older coins, so I believe these may have been part of an estate cleanout.  The only thing that would of made me happier would of been a war or buffalo nickel in the lot.  I was completely floored with the 1940 and 1966 copies!

5 Roll Nickel Break # 2

I purchased 5 rolls of nickels from my bank and these are the results:

• Pre 1959: 5 (1938S, 1946S, 1952, 1956, 1951)
• "S" Mint Marks: 2
• Total EF - AU Coins For Albums: 10
• Key Find: 1938S

Verdict: These were customer rolled nickels that produced great results. There was multiple corroded pieces mixed in with the old coins, so I believe these may have been sitting around in a can for many years.

10 Roll Nickel Break

 I purchased 10 rolls of nickels last week from my bank and these are the results: 

• Pre 1959: 9 
• "S" Mint Marks: 4
• Total AU Coins For Albums: 144 

Verdict: These were customer rolled nickels and they produced good results  I was able to get many of the coins needed for the 2 sets including "S" mint marks.  One interesting note was the condition of the coins from the 1980's.  They showed considerable wear.

What Are My Motives?

Not long ago, I started thinking about ways to diversify my net worth while protecting myself against inflation.  I thought about investing in gold, but I am currently priced out of that market.  I also thought about silver and did buy some, but it is not cheap and there is a premium being associated with each transaction.  I wanted to get into a metal cheaply like the silver coins being minted in the early 1960's (1964 and back).

The current silver colored coins being minted in the U.S. today are copper-nickel clad.  Given the composition, weight, and denomination the current nickel could be a good investment. The nickel currently contains between $.05-$.07 of copper-nickel clad.  Another option would be to sort though pennies and save all cents minted 1981 and older as these are 95% copper. The nice thing about saving nickels is there is no sorting required.  All nickels in circulation currently have the same composition.  This may change in the next year or so as the government is investigating alternative metals.  The US Mint spends more to create the nickel than it is worth.

I currently search rolls of cents and nickels.  These are the items I am saving from the "hunt".

Nickels - Everything!  Nickels are currently made of 75% copper & 25% Nickel (Until further notice that is!).  I am also working on 2 Jefferson 1938 - Date sets with my kids.  This has proven to be a fun activity.

Cents - I am currently saving all pre 1981 cents for the copper value, high quality cents for a couple of albums we are doing as a family, and sorting certain dates for inspection of errors.

 I plan to post my finds here and hope to here from others as they set out on this low overhead treasure hunt!

Resources I have found useful:

http://www.survivalblog.com/nickels.html

http://www.coinflation.com/

http://www.numismaster.com

Striking It Rich With Pocket Change

A Guidebook Of Lincoln Cents

Complete Guide To Buffalo And Jefferson Nickels

http://www.lincolncentresource.com/

Coin Show Radio