Start a Coin Collection on $4 Worth of Change
Monday March 10, 2008
One of the most wonderful things about becoming a coin collector is that getting started is as easy as saving up your pocket change for a couple of weeks, or better yet, buying a couple of rolls of coins from a local store or bank. For a mere $4 investment, you (and your kids) can put together a remarkably diverse collection of Jefferson Nickels. These coins can form the foundation for an entire collection of circulating Jefferson Nickels, nearly all of which can be found in pocket change!
Among the few regular issue nickels which can't be found in circulation, none are so rare that you would have to pay more than $15 each to acquire nice circulated examples. The 1950-D is rare in circulated grades since most of them were saved as they were issued, and the 1939-D, the other key Jefferson Nickel, is readily available for a few dollars each in the mid-to-lower circulated grades.
The other challenge in circulating Jefferson Nickels is the series of 40% silver nickels, issued from 1942 through 1945. Because of their silver and manganese content, they are very easy to pick out, and with the price of silver bullion skyrocketing, the bullion value of even well-worn silver nickels is more than $1.00 a coin right now. Expect to have to pay $2 or $3 each for decent circulated examples of these. Other than these few examples, though, the entire collection of circulating Jefferson Nickels is out there in people's pocket change, just waiting for someone to pluck them out and add them to their collection.
I did a small "nickel roll content study" recently, as I do from time to time, and the results are just as encouraging as they were a couple of years ago when I first wrote my $4 coin collection article. Out of 5 sets of 2 rolls each (80 nickels in each set, with each set of 2 rolls purchased at a different store,) the number of individual different coins (meaning different date and mint mark combinations) was, from best to worst: 38, 29, 27, 26, and 23. If I went to a coin dealer to buy 38 different Jefferson Nickels in circulated condition, I'd pay about $30 (based on an actual ad in Coin World for a roll of 40 different Jeffersons.) By getting them out of circulation myself, they cost me $1.90. While it's true that my random 38 were probably later dates than the coin dealer's offer, it is also true that you can find nearly all non-silver Jefferson Nickels in circulation if you search for them diligently. You'll even find a silver Jefferson now and then if you do a lot of roll searching.
So, how do you get started? I have very simple instructions for a basic year date set, containing one nickel from each year, in my $4 coin collection article. The article even tells you how to make your own coin collecting board! If you'd like to get more tips about coin collecting, how to find rare coins in circulation, and other coin collecting secrets, subscribe to my free weekly About Coins newsletter now.
Among the few regular issue nickels which can't be found in circulation, none are so rare that you would have to pay more than $15 each to acquire nice circulated examples. The 1950-D is rare in circulated grades since most of them were saved as they were issued, and the 1939-D, the other key Jefferson Nickel, is readily available for a few dollars each in the mid-to-lower circulated grades.
The other challenge in circulating Jefferson Nickels is the series of 40% silver nickels, issued from 1942 through 1945. Because of their silver and manganese content, they are very easy to pick out, and with the price of silver bullion skyrocketing, the bullion value of even well-worn silver nickels is more than $1.00 a coin right now. Expect to have to pay $2 or $3 each for decent circulated examples of these. Other than these few examples, though, the entire collection of circulating Jefferson Nickels is out there in people's pocket change, just waiting for someone to pluck them out and add them to their collection.
I did a small "nickel roll content study" recently, as I do from time to time, and the results are just as encouraging as they were a couple of years ago when I first wrote my $4 coin collection article. Out of 5 sets of 2 rolls each (80 nickels in each set, with each set of 2 rolls purchased at a different store,) the number of individual different coins (meaning different date and mint mark combinations) was, from best to worst: 38, 29, 27, 26, and 23. If I went to a coin dealer to buy 38 different Jefferson Nickels in circulated condition, I'd pay about $30 (based on an actual ad in Coin World for a roll of 40 different Jeffersons.) By getting them out of circulation myself, they cost me $1.90. While it's true that my random 38 were probably later dates than the coin dealer's offer, it is also true that you can find nearly all non-silver Jefferson Nickels in circulation if you search for them diligently. You'll even find a silver Jefferson now and then if you do a lot of roll searching.
So, how do you get started? I have very simple instructions for a basic year date set, containing one nickel from each year, in my $4 coin collection article. The article even tells you how to make your own coin collecting board! If you'd like to get more tips about coin collecting, how to find rare coins in circulation, and other coin collecting secrets, subscribe to my free weekly About Coins newsletter now.
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