Help with key date Jeffersons, PLEASE

[Bucketgirl]

Can anyone help a newbie here? Been picking up nickels lately to switch things up, was wondering if anyone can explain why 1990-D's are collectable?

I looked around on this nickel forum and saw the 1950-D and 2009-D have low mintages, is that the reason why we want to save them?

the war nickels? Are there better ones than others? (1943-P opposed to a 1944-S? just an example)

and Lastly, is it worth looking at all the mint-marks of every nickel you hand sort? Paying attention for a "S"?

[scyther]

I have no idea about 1990-Ds. They're not low mintage and I don't save them. Maybe there's an error for that year? Or you're thinking of a different year?

Yes, low mintages is the reason for saving 2009 nickels (P is actually better than D, but I save both). 1950-D is the lowest mintage in the series (actually 2 series, 1938-2005 and 2006-present) so definitely save that if you find one, although you probably won't. I think they're worth like $5-10 depending on condition. There are a lot of low mintage coins early on in the series, and a lot of us save everything before 1960 because they're old and tend to have low mintages.

1944-S is a lot harder to find than 1943-P (I still haven't found one, while I have probably 20 1943-P), but I'm not sure it's worth more. If it is, I don't think the difference is very big.

I tend to look at every date, but you can screen out the modern ones easily enough at a glance. I would check everything before 1960, as nothing after that other than 2009 is even remotely scarce. Also, don't get too hung up on S-mint coins; S tends to be the best but that's not always the case.

[galenrog]

Scythed answered most of your questions very well. I am going to address "war" nickels lightly. The "war" nickels were minted from about mid-1942 through 1945. Instead of the cupronickel alloy (.750 copper, .250 nickel) the alloy was changed to reflect the need for nickel in various military applications. The temporary alloy (.560 copper, .350 silver, .090 manganese), because it contained significant silver had a design change putting a very large mint mark on the reverse above Monticello. One reported reason for the design change was to make it easier for banking and government employees to pull these from circulation after the war. I do not know if this was ever done to any significant degree. After the war, the pre-war alloy was resumed and remains in nickels to this day.

There are a few noted errors that can be found in most guidebooks. Other than those, the most common reason for pulling them from the sort is that they are 35% silver.

Do not confuse the cupronickel 1942 nicks from the 35% silver. The silver nicks have a large mint mark (P, D, S) above Monticello. The cupronickel nicks have standard mint marks (D, S, or no mint mark if Philidelphia) to the right of Monticello.

Enjoy.

[cooyon]

If you see any S mints dated 1971-to-date, those are worth keeping, as they were minted as "proof only", it's fun to find a proof coin in the wild, I have found two or three in three years of roll searching.

Good luck with your hand sorting! Never know what you will see. I got a 1936 full date buffalo nickel in change from the grocery store Wednesday, they are still out there!

[hobo finds]

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