by Recyclersteve » Tue Aug 13, 2019 5:56 pm
Silver is basically the answer. Dimes, quarters and halves all had 90% silver til 1964. Halves were an exception as those from 1965 through 1970 had 40% silver and are definitely worth saving. 1970's were only made in collector mint sets, so you likely won't see any in circulation.
For nickels, there is lots of debate as to the years worth saving. Some say pre 1960. Others say 1964 and before, perhaps because that is the date where they would be also saving dimes and quarters. But they made a LOT of coins in 1964 as there was a coin shortage then (Google "U.S. coin shortage" for some neat articles if you like), so I don't save any 1964 nickels. Other than the war nickels (some of the 1942's plus all from 1943-1945), which had 35% silver, saving nickels is something where you will get strong opinions both ways (worth saving and not worth saving).
Personally, I save copper pennies (all up to 1981 and about 2/3 of the 1982's minted), pre-1960 nickels (only because I can sell them quickly to a local guy for 7 cents- but I don't spend a lot of time looking for them), all 90% and 40% silver coins. Also, I do save war nickels. I save Ike dollars only only flip them for a very modest profit, but don't go out of my way looking for them.
That is pretty much it for me, except that I do save Canadian .999 (99.9%) nickels. These were pure nickel until 1981 (with the exception of some years in the 1940's and 1950's), whereas our nickels are only 25% nickel and 75% copper. Also, there are some other countries where pure nickel coins were made (France, Netherlands and a few others). It would probably be easier for someone starting out to just stick with Canada .999 nickels, which are easier to locate.
Former stock broker w/ ~20 yrs. at one company. Spoke with 100k+ people and traded a lot (long, short, options, margin, extended hours, etc.).
NOTE: ANY stocks I discuss, no matter how compelling, carry risk- often
substantial. If not prepared to buy it multiple times in modest amounts without going overboard (assuming nothing really wrong with the company), you need to learn more about the market and managing risk. Also, please research covered calls (options) and selling short as well.