I had been saving Jefferson Nickels from the 40's and 50's when I roll search for Wars/Buffalo/Liberty Nickels. I have about 7 rolls of them and was hoping to make a few bucks on them. I think I have decided to just cash them in at my bank because I don't feel like holding them. The reason I am posting this is because I hope a roll searcher or collector gets a hold of them if I do because that would be a fun find. Anyone else that searches roll save these as well? If so did you sell them for any premium?
When I find them i save them to give to newbies for their collections. The Jefferson Nickel series is one of the easiest and most affordable sets to assemble and has lots to offer to hold interest while they are just beginning.
Before I started collecting again I could have cared less about Nickels. Since then they have become my favorite coin to roll search because you can still pull some decent finds.
I keep nickels from 1961 and earlier. 46-61 I keep seperate to sell (mainly on eBay, but sometimes on here as well). I actually keep 38-42 for my collection (as well as wars). They can sell for between $4-$5 per roll, generally anywhere sold.
I have maybe 10-11 boxes of 40s and 50s that I wonder why I have other than that the nickels are worth more than face anyway with melt value.
I have quite a few rolls 1946 to 1970 and don't know why I keep them. I guess because I've kept them 7 or 8 years already.
I keep the "lower" mintage pre-60 ones. Generally, anything 30-40 million mintage or less. Nickels starting me coin collecting as a pre-teen and I have a special place in my heart for nickels. Also, it doesn't hurt that I have found two 50-Ds roll searching in little over a year, so that certainly keeps my interest. I have about 12 rolls so far and will hold them for my boys when/if they are interested when they get a little older.
I started looking thru nickels on Jan 2nd of this year. I figured I would keep anything earlier than 1960 to make it worth my time. So far since Jan 2nd, I've found 358 pre-60 nickels or 8.95 rolls. I have a pre-60 nickel collection spreadsheet in excel from 1938-1959 and have a column for p, d, and s mint marks for each year. When I get through with a hunt at night. I go to my excel spreadsheet and log every year and mint mark to keep track of how many I have of each. When I get a full roll of year of a certain mint mark, they will most likely go on ebay. I do keep uncirculated jeffersons for myself, and will also keep 1938-1940 for myself too. Having a log like this also keeps things interesting as you can see which dates/mint marks are most prevelant .
I keep all early year Jefferson nickels out of habit mainly because I enjoy the fact that I own something that has a lot of history in it. I love the feeling of holding something in my hand that is more than 50 years old, and early Jeffersons are one of the easier coins to find. My kids really dig it too. They can search coins and have a good chance of finding them. I also keep any nickels dated 1982 P & D and 1983 P & D. I ended up selling a roll of '82 P nickels for $150 and several other rolls from those years for between $40 and $100 per roll. The full-steps ones are a real cash cow.
So, if you come across a 50-D or 39-D, you won't keep it? I assume you would, but just wanted to make sure. If you don't, that's fine and more for the rest of us. :smile
I have not come across a 50-d but yes I would keep it. And I have 1 39-d I found AU with nice goldish toning that I'll sell on eBay when I can get a decent picture of it up.
