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I sorted my first box of nickels the other day looking for anything old and interesting. I got three 1942 war nickels, a few 1950s, and a big handful from the 60s.

At this point I am not stacking anything but the older ones but its much more enjoyable than hand sorting pennies. I think its because the dates are bigger therefore easier to read and they don't seem quite as dirty.

Nickels are for when I run out of halves to search, and pennies for when I run out of nickels.

That's true, they are easier and usually less dirty than pennies tend to be.

I like nickels more too. I think it's because I feel like I'm working faster because I'm going through 5x as much money . However, I think that another part of it is that pre 60 coins are more abundant in the nickels than in the pennies. My pre-59' penny (wheat pennies) ratio is about 1/350, but my pre-60 nickel ratio is more like 1/100, so those little bursts of excitement come more often and keep me more interested. Then of course there is also the chance of finding silver, which you don't have with pennies, that's a big plus too. Finally, they just make way less nickels than pennies, total non-silver mintage for pre 60 jeffersons was about 2.5 billion, total wheat penny production was about 25 billion. So every time I find a pre-60 nickel, I'm finding something that's 10x more rare than a wheat penny.

creshka46 wrote:I like nickels more too. I think it's because I feel like I'm working faster because I'm going through 5x as much money . However, I think that another part of it is that pre 60 coins are more abundant in the nickels than in the pennies. My pre-59' penny (wheat pennies) ratio is about 1/350, but my pre-60 nickel ratio is more like 1/100, so those little bursts of excitement come more often and keep me more interested. Then of course there is also the chance of finding silver, which you don't have with pennies, that's a big plus too. Finally, they just make way less nickels than pennies, total non-silver mintage for pre 60 jeffersons was about 2.5 billion, total wheat penny production was about 25 billion. So every time I find a pre-60 nickel, I'm finding something that's 10x more rare than a wheat penny.

I also agree that nickels are really fun! Right now copper pennies make more sense financially, but that is without much of a market for pre-60 nickels. However, there are 12 date/mintmark combos with a total mintage below 15 million. Nine of them are below 10 million. Getting any of those has always put a smile on my face! So far, I have smiled 3,947 times because of those.

thesilvertiger wrote:I also agree that nickels are really fun! Right now copper pennies make more sense financially, but that is without much of a market for pre-60 nickels. However, there are 12 date/mintmark combos with a total mintage below 15 million. Nine of them are below 10 million. Getting any of those has always put a smile on my face! So far, I have smiled 3,947 times because of those.

Wow, 3947?! how many nickels have you been through? $50,000? I'm up to about 1000-1500 in ALL pre-60's.

Wow, 3947?! how many nickels have you been through? $50,000? I'm up to about 1000-1500 in ALL pre-60's.[/quote]

It is so hard to say how many I've been through. I started when I was 12 because even then I thought it was so neat to be able to find coins made in the 30's, 40's, and 50's in everyday change. That was thirty years ago. They were so much easier to find back then. I wish I would have thought to get boxes at the bank way back when, but it has only been in the last three years that I've done so. Nickels have ALWAYS been my favorite coins to pull out of change. I have a very detailed tracking system (my wife says its due to OCD) for my nickels. Here are a few facts:

5 - 1950-d (lowest mintage @ 2.6 million)
1657 - 1951-s (mintage of 7,776,000)
1172 - 1949-s (mintage of 9,716,000)
688 - Silver war nickels
15,129 - Total pre-60 nickels

That's great. I wish I had gotten into this more when I was a kid (15 years ago). I'm sure even then there would have been a lot more to find before silver exploded.

I like nickels more than pennies too, just because of the variety of interesting stuff is greater. Unfortunately, a roll of nickels is 4x as expensive as a roll of pennies, so I can't sort as many.

Ya durn nickel lovers!

Found my second buffalo a few days ago. I believe it is a 1920 but the date is very worn. You definitely do find more interesting foreign coins in the nickel rolls. I found a Greek coin and something from central or South America that I haven't looked up yet. Of course there are always a few Canadians who sneak in.

I guess I should sort my nickels. I have only been stacking them.

2 Buffs and a 1945 war nick in the last box