I Finally Found That Elusive 1950-D Nickel Today!

Hi John - Took a look at the Buffalo sets I have going:

- Dated/identifiable Buffalo Set: 31 out of 64
- Pickled Nickel Set of Buffalo: 38 out of 64

Oddly enough, the bare spots in the pickled nickel set are mainly the later date Buffalo (they still have readable dates, so pickling is unnecessary). I have 34 of the first 45 Buffalo dates/mms filled and generally only missing the San Fran mms (1913S for T1 and T2, 1916S-1928S, 1924D).

Unfortunately, I have not kept a rolling count of nickels searched, so I have no way of developing the find ratios for Jefferson, Buffalo, and V nickels. Just counts of each of the semikey Jeffersons, Buffalo and V nickels. The most elusive was the 1939D for me, but after I found my first, I found 2 more. So at present, the 1950D and 1943D are the most difficult to find; 2 apiece. Both 1950Ds were from dumps; both AU one of which has unfortunate roller damage to the reverse. I found it in the middle of the roll, so damage had to occur elsewhere. The first 1943D was an ender; the D was prominent in the opened box. That was an exciting find! Both 1943D's were well circulated specimens.

But as you see, finding S mint nickels in the East is difficult...but not impossible. D and P mints more readily found. But finding S mint nickels is easier than S mint cents by far. So no complaints by me. And as for 2009P, I find them regularly enough; maybe one per box. 2009D...I think I might only have found 15-20. Pretty tough find. Let me know if you are interested in counts for a given date/mm for comparison purposes. Like I said, no total count for a denominator, but hard numbers on counts. However, it is safe to say that I've not searched nearly as much as you...or David!!

Wow, Rackster! We've both found 38 of the 64 Buffalos... we could put our sets together and have something pretty impressive! Among my "pickled" ones, I've found a 1914-D, 1918-S, 1919-S, and... drumroll... a 1921-S!

My story with the 1943-D nickels is quite the opposite of yours. My first one was an extremely well-circulated example, but I'd say at least half of the eight I've found have been slider AU or better, with one being full BU.

I have the opposite problem of you when it comes to the S mints, of course. And P mint coins are often hard, as witnessed by my 1955 Philly total of 4. As for the 2009 coins, I am finding 1 2009-P every 14,780 coins... so 1 every almost 7 1/2 boxes. Was shocked one recent day when I found two of them. As for the 2009-Ds, it is now 1 every 695 coins. So around 3 per box - interestingly, my box with the 1950-D had none. The 2009-Ds are definitely getting harder to find. At the 300,000 coin searched mark, I was finding 1 every 648 coins... Over the last 468,600 coins, I have found one every 732 coins.

That 15-S is a nice find for your pickled collection, Rackster. The dates are very clear on both my 14-D and 21-S pickled coins.

And yes, those two different strains of strikes on the 1955 Philly... I'm not sure if it was you or someone else I talked about with in the past. I'll double check, but I think all four I've found are the weaker variety.

I've found some rather odd dumps around here too... some high grade 1959 Philly coins somehow made it out here, including several of the so-called "Black Beauty" coins. Same for 1960 and 1963 Philly coins. Almost all of these turned up in String&Son rolls dispersed locally. Not so much for the 1961 or 1962 Philly coins, though I did discover upon closer inspection that one of my 1962 Phillys I pulled was an impaired Proof.

Thanks, cabowabo! Scoring that 1950-D took the pressure off... Now I can do this CRH a little more leisurely and focus more on my little business I've got going!

LOL, Rackster. Sorta kinda sometimes... a lot of work to re-roll 750,000 or so nickels.

Lightning strikes twice! This mean that you have completed two circulation Jefferson sets in the last couple of years! That is crazy. Congratulations!

Thanks, guys! Here's the crazy story of how I found my 2nd 1950-D CRH... http://goccf.com/t/308751

Yes, jbuck! Amazed that in less than 100 days, I have now found two of them!




I am guessing I don't have too much company in that department...

It's a month and a half into 2018, and I am only 4 coins short of a complete set found this calendar year. I'm only missing the 1938-S, 1939-D, 1944-D, and 1944-S. (Found two 1942-Ds the past week)