Are Old Nickels Worth Saving Other Than War Nickels?

I'm halfway to a full tube of pre 1960's from circulation only.My first was a 38P

If you check on the prices of full sets of modern Nickels, you would find saving lots of them is just not worth the time. However, for a numismatic sense, they are worth what you like, not what they are worth.

At least one of the major wholesalers is still paying 7 cents each for pre-1960 nickels. I just throw them in a bucket and ship em off when I have other stuff to wholesale out.

Where else can you get a return of 40% on your investment?

I only save pre-60 nickels that are in good condition.

I've not done the research, but I wonder if the margin goes up if sold as a full set.

Here's what I've got going for the best of the CRH finds -

Rackster, I like your set up a lot. Nice way to keep track of exactly what you have.

I have accumulated one full roll of each minted for circulation Jefferson nickel from 1938 through 1999. That includes all War Nickels and all the keys.

I started collecting V nickels and have a roll of each from 1899 to 1912 with the exception of 1912-D and 1912-S. I have rolls of the some late 1930's Buffalo nickels.

I didn't have any problem selling the duplicate rolls I accumulated on E-bay. I sold most of them in one large lot. I don't keep duplicate rolls anymore but have some number of all the minted for circulation from 1938 to date.

It is just a fun thing to do and now that the nickels are complete I have moved to Lincoln Pennies. I have quite a number of rolls of those but not many pre 1940.

We all have our own interest and these are mine. Lately I have been accumulating US Mint sets. I have one or more from 1965 to date with the exception of a couple in the 80's.

When I run across a good deal on a nickel album, I will put together a set and list it on E-bay.

Keeps me busy and provides some additional funds to play with.
Keep what you enjoy and enjoy what you keep.

Tampabaygrampa - Like you, I'm working on the Lincoln Cents as well. Same setup but it's now taking up 2 2/3 boxes of tubes. Jeffersons (with the V and Buffalo) only taking up 2 boxes for now but as you say, quick and efficient way to work through inventory.

What I do is this: as I complete a CRH event, I set aside the coins I plan to/might keep. I then go through the roll for that date/mm; best coins are at the bottom with the lower grades toward the top. I compare the finds with the coin on top (i.e. the lowest grade coin for that date/mm). If better, I keep it placing it in the correct position according to grade and then toss the lowest grade coin (1959 and under) into a general bucket. For coins 1960 and up, I may or may not keep once I vet them for DDO / DDR/RPM. They go into a different bucket. I did this a long time with the older nickels, but not so much for the more current nickels. As a result, I've a number of later nickel dates/mms that need to be filled out yet. I'm pretty fussy though as for the most part, the coins need to be AU or better for these dates/mms (with a few exceptions).

The Lincolns are a combination of an early LWC hoard my brother and I accumulated plus some purchases (1934 and prior). Except for the keys and semikeys, I have full rolls. I use the same process here for optimizing each roll I have. Lower grade LWCs go into a bucket. LMCs are pretty much recycled to the next CRH event; no real purpose to keep them.

Connor - sounds like you are on a common path. I think that over time though you will begin to unload those latter year finds. The numbers minted are just too large to offer much hope that they will appreciate much in value. You may be better off turning in those nickels to get new ones to search through. There are exceptions though: high grade specimens are worth keeping (AU+) along with a few lower mintage dates. Consider keeping high grade 1982 and 1983 P&D specimens and 1986 D. And depending on where you are, you may find that high grade 1970s nickels are tougher to find that earlier dates/mms. It has been that way for me. If you plan to CRH regularly, you can reasonably be assured that you can put together solid rolls of high grade nickels from 1956 forward. Beyond those years, you will find occasional high grade specimens, but most rolls will be Fine or better. Some tougher dates/mms (usually dependent on location or semikey/key items) will have G/VG coins in the rolls (at least to start). But my advice is to be fussy else you will have a large number of nickels soon to be worth...a nickel each. Good luck on the hunt!!

I stick to the pre 64 nickels also except I don't include 58-63 Denvers they are very high mintages and no point in collecting