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 Replies: 59 / Views: 11,122 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
Great job, John! Perseverance pays off in our hobby.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2917 Posts |
Thanks, ljenkins990 and berto... I've always been one to persevere, so this hobby is a perfect fit for me... totaling up my tally sheets now to see exactly how many coins it took me to find this elusive one. Should have the actual breakdown of my finds totals in the next few hours.
CRH Nickeloholic. 1,600,000 nickels searched in eight years! Have found FOUR complete Jefferson sets!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2917 Posts |
Alright... The 19,215th roll I searched is the one that produced my 1950-D... So it took me 768,600 coins to find. For those counting boxes, that's the equivalent of 384.3 boxes!
CRH Nickeloholic. 1,600,000 nickels searched in eight years! Have found FOUR complete Jefferson sets!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I don't get it, but I'm glad it works for you.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1695 Posts |
Quote:
The 19,215th roll I searched is the one that produced my 1950-D... So it took me 768,600 coins to find. For those counting boxes, that's the equivalent of 384.3 boxes That is really amazing, John77. At what point will completing the set no longer be considered "doable"? I suspect there won't be too many other people who succeed in finishing the set after 2017. |
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Valued Member
United States
164 Posts |
I have no idea of the odds but I had been searching for a 1950-d nickel in the wild since about 1963, but I was able to find two very nice examples in a three month period this summer searching bags from my banks coin counters.
I have been searching bank bags off and on in the past 8 or 9 years.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2917 Posts |
Thanks, aristarchus! And wow, davef! You found 2 in 3 months? Sheesh! That is amazing!  Do you happen to have a running tally of your finds or how many coins you've gone through? And coinfrog, to put it another way, I went through $38,430 worth of nickels to find the last piece to my Jefferson set. Been working on my spreadsheets a little... wanted to get my circulated Jefferson's updated first to reflect this coin... so without further ado, here goes my Jefferson's through 768,600 coins searched.  Odds and ends from the stats: Hardest to find: 1. 1950-D (1) 2. 1939-D (2) 3. 1955(P)(4) 4. 1938-S (6) 4. 1938-D (6) 6. 1943-D (8) 6. 1945-D (8) 8. 1939-S (12) 8. 1944-D (12) 10.1942-P (13) Total War Nickels found: 308 (1 every 2,495 coins). CRH Nickeloholic. 1,600,000 nickels searched in eight years! Have found FOUR complete Jefferson sets!
Edited by John77
11/24/2017 10:22 pm
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
John77, question...you live west coast area? I live central Missouri, my take on some of those, especially the 55P is plentiful over 38K. My picks of the keys are 0, zip, nada, nil, nuttinhoneys. Now have purchased some auction bulk lots that have gleaned the minor keys. Just wonderin' because of your overall totals seems more of a western pickup than an east coast area.
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Moderator
 United States
189528 Posts |
Quote:
Alright... The 19,215th roll I searched is the one that produced my 1950-D... So it took me 768,600 coins to find. For those counting boxes, that's the equivalent of 384.3 boxes!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1695 Posts |
Quote:Odds and ends from the stats: Hardest to find: 1. 1950-D (1) 2. 1939-D (2) 3. 1955(P)(4) 4. 1938-S (6) 4. 1938-D (6) 6. 1943-D (8) 6. 1945-D (8) 8. 1939-S (12) 8. 1944-D (12) 10.1942-P (13) Total War Nickels found: 308 (1 every 2,495 coins). That is great record-keeping, in addition to great finds, John77. Might you have numbers on Buffalo and V-nickels, or foreign coins? I'll post my totals next month as we close out the year. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Flabbergasting. Cannot imagine spending more time and effort with a lower probability of success than this sort of search, which your survey proves. Glad it works for you. Edited by Coinfrog
11/25/2017 7:37 pm
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Moderator
United States
189528 Posts |
For most, it is the thrill of the hunt. It is not for everyone though. I gave it up a long time ago, but still love reading about the successes here. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4809 Posts |
John - well done!! You put the time in and it paid off! To boot, you have multiple sets in the making with only a few tougher coins holding you back. I did record another 1943D over the year, so I have two circ sets built. I hope that folks keep at it; so glad to read David's posts of old in the hopes of putting a circ set together. I'm not sure where I stand on the Buffalo set these days...been spending time on the Lincolns of late.
It is interesting seeing your data along with David's. Location is important. I always assumed mid-west/west coasters would have the easier time of it (building a circ set) though. But the magic can happen anywhere. As many here can attest to, the occasional collector's set dump has contributed to finding a key/semikey coin. Consistent CRH is the key; many of my Buffalo/V nickel finds came in bulk. So keep at it everyone; your turn may be around the next corner!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2917 Posts |
Quote:
John77, question...you live west coast area? I live central Missouri, my take on some of those, especially the 55P is plentiful over 38K. My picks of the keys are 0, zip, nada, nil, nuttinhoneys. Now have purchased some auction bulk lots that have gleaned the minor keys. Just wonderin' because of your overall totals seems more of a western pickup than an east coast area. Yes, crazyb0, I'm on the West coast. In terms of expected finds vs. actual mintage (for non-silvers), and not accounting for attrition, the 55-P is my 2nd hardest pull. Even with the four I've found the past 20 months, my lifetime find total for them is only 5. Out of curiosity, do you have some totals around to post? Hardest pulls (Expected finds - raw vs. mintage - not including silvers) 1.1950-D 0.3802 2.1955(P)0.5071 3.1939-D 0.5692 4.1938-D 1.1161 5.1950(P)1.2250 Quote:
That is great record-keeping, in addition to great finds, John77. Might you have numbers on Buffalo and V-nickels, or foreign coins? I'll post my totals next month as we close out the year. Thanks, aristarchus. I'm actually pickling some dateless Buffalos at the moment... that's what is holding my totals up on the older coins. A few more days before I have those. Quote:
Flabbergasting. Cannot imagine spending more time and effort with a lower probability of success than this sort of search, which your survey proves. Glad it works for you. Coinfrog, I'm the very persistent type-A, driven kind of person. My goal all along was to complete a set of Jefferson's out of circulation... and since I saw people were finding 50-Ds and I found a 39-D early on, I knew it was possible. Now that I've achieved my goal, I've actually taken a break the past couple of weeks to organize stuff, and get some of the excess ready for sale on ebay. Quote:
For most, it is the thrill of the hunt. It is not for everyone though. I gave it up a long time ago, but still love reading about the successes here. So true, jbuck. It's truly a joy for me to share my finds and inspire others. Quote:
John - well done!! You put the time in and it paid off! To boot, you have multiple sets in the making with only a few tougher coins holding you back. I did record another 1943D over the year, so I have two circ sets built. I hope that folks keep at it; so glad to read David's posts of old in the hopes of putting a circ set together. I'm not sure where I stand on the Buffalo set these days...been spending time on the Lincolns of late.
It is interesting seeing your data along with David's. Location is important. I always assumed mid-west/west coasters would have the easier time of it (building a circ set) though. But the magic can happen anywhere. As many here can attest to, the occasional collector's set dump has contributed to finding a key/semikey coin. Consistent CRH is the key; many of my Buffalo/V nickel finds came in bulk. So keep at it everyone; your turn may be around the next corner! Thanks, Rackster! And congrats on getting your second 1943-D to complete your second set out of the wild! My set of nickels actually is complete from 1934-date. I finally found a 1938-D Buffalo about two months ago to complete that portion. As for my Buffalos, I have found 38 of the 64 regular issues, including all of the P-mints except 1921. I did manage to find a collection dump of them which included 30 in a roll, along with 4 V nickels from a local BofA several months ago. My Lincoln short set from 1934-date is complete sans the two I figured would be the hardest based on my location - the 1938-D and 1939-D... In terms of the 1909-1933 coins, I am still missing 36 of them. But collection dumps indeed can help - as you may recall, I found 1932-D and 1933 Lincolns in one such dump from early in the year. I've had a lot of luck with collection dumps of wheats of late, though they've mostly been common dates. The weirdest thing I'm working on? My CoinStar set of Roosevelt dimes! I'll post that soon. LOL. CRH Nickeloholic. 1,600,000 nickels searched in eight years! Have found FOUR complete Jefferson sets!
Edited by John77
11/27/2017 10:24 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4809 Posts |
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!!  |
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Posted 11/24/2017 2:56 pm
