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I see that people are discussing Pre-1960 nickels as a separate class of nickel. I'm new to the forum, I thought that all nickels except for the silver war ones were the same composition as the ones still being made now?

What is the reason for pre-60 nickels being put aside? Do they have good collector value?

they have some collector value

Gotya! Even just average circulated ones? Or do they keep only uncirculated ones to sell?

Many save all their pre-'60 nickels separately...kind of like a wheat cent thing. I doubt you'd realize any premium today on the avg circ stuff, but if you're sorting anyway, why not set them aside for a possible future bump.

To keep it simple, my nickel cutoff is 1958 to coincide with the wheats.

I do the same and I put aside from my .999 nickel-bullion stack all pre-63 canadian .999 nickels.

Cheers,

Morsecode wrote:Many save all their pre-'60 nickels separately...kind of like a wheat cent thing. I doubt you'd realize any premium today on the avg circ stuff, but if you're sorting anyway, why not set them aside for a possible future bump.

To keep it simple, my nickel cutoff is 1958 to coincide with the wheats.

you generally realize about 1.5 to 2X face (aside from the 50D , 38d/s 39d/s)

I actually save them until huge dips in the market (or get a nice buying op) change them in (kinda like spring cleaning) and repeat process.

Yup, its pretty much the same with Canadians, keep all Pre-81 but also seperate based on:

Young queen heads 1964 and earlier might have a small premium based on condition, pre-52 George VI's always have a premium.

rsk1963 wrote:

Morsecode wrote:Many save all their pre-'60 nickels separately...kind of like a wheat cent thing. I doubt you'd realize any premium today on the avg circ stuff, but if you're sorting anyway, why not set them aside for a possible future bump.

To keep it simple, my nickel cutoff is 1958 to coincide with the wheats.

you generally realize about 1.5 to 2X face (aside from the 50D , 38d/s 39d/s)

I actually save them until huge dips in the market (or get a nice buying op) change them in (kinda like spring cleaning) and repeat process.

You can get 1.5 to 2x for avg circ pre-'60? I did not know that. Where have you had the best luck selling them? Ebay, CL?

ebay mostly... Sold the last batch 20 rolls for 65 + shipping kept the nice rarer jobs for myself with the silver guys.

Cool. Good to know. I stand corrected

I just posted an ad on craigslist and got a reply from a guy willing to pay $5/roll for sorted, circulated, common date jeffersons! I said: DEAL!

Nice! Use that and buy some silver.

creshka46 wrote:I just posted an ad on craigslist and got a reply from a guy willing to pay $5/roll for sorted, circulated, common date jeffersons! I said: DEAL!

Common Pre-1960's?
At $0.125 a coin?

Yeah, all over 100 million mintage:

1941, 54D, 57D, 58D, and 59D

The deal hasn't been completed yet but hopefully it will!

I do find it surprising but it really shouldn't be. Wheat pennies have higher mintages than pre-60 Jefferson nickels and they sell for multiple times face value.

That's a really good point. I think these things have some decent potential in the future. They are starting to become my favorite coins

when I was sorting nickels I saved all the pre 1960s ones as well. I think I ended up with around $50 worth. Couldn't find a buyer for any kind of premium so I ended up just dumping them because I didn't want to mess with them anymore.

I imagine it might work out for a small premium if you can find a local buyer. When you toss eBay fees, paypal fees and shipping into the equation it makes it very difficult to turn any kind of profit unless you are dealing with massive amounts of pre 1960s nickels.

In my area it takes about $35,000 or so just to make a $100 box of 38-49 and 50-59. (got about $10 war the last batch I did)

I segregate older Jeffs by decade. '38 - '49 and '50 - '59. War nicks separate. Once they are looked over for errors they go on CL locally. My market in western Oregon can be spotty, but I can make a buck or two from time to time.

galenrog wrote:I segregate older Jeffs by decade. '38 - '49 and '50 - '59.

I do that too now, since they stopped all fitting in the same bag...

creshka46 wrote:That's a really good point. I think these things have some decent potential in the future. They are starting to become my favorite coins

Looks like the only US coin yet to be debased is starting to show up on the radar . . .