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 Replies: 20 / Views: 3,494 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19935 Posts |
I've had my friends 30+ year old change stash of nickels for over a year now. About 2 weeks ago I got myself remotivated to get this huge, glass jug out of my house....and then I remembered why I stopped last time..... It's extremely difficult to pick out the BU coins. He has loads of 70's, 80's and 90's BU's mixed in. That's ALL that I'm looking for outside of an obvious error. I don't know the varieties and searching for them would be far too cumbersome considering the volume. With Lincolns, I can pick out BU coins instantly from the working pile. I can pick out the copper and culls in seconds. I find it impossible to instantly tell a cleaned Jefferson from a BU one....the questionable ones require close examination. Even then, some are very tough to tell because nickels in general are HORRIBLY struck! I used to think Lincolns were the king of horribly stuck coins....now there's no doubt that NOPE....it's the US nickel. I'm going to get through this massive stash and then I'm never going to search nickels EVER again.  |
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Valued Member
United States
114 Posts |
Still, it sounds like fun, let us know what you find
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3278 Posts |
I feel your pain. It just doesn't seem like there is much of a chance of "wow look what I found" when searching Jeffersons. Although I'm sure someone will chime in with a bunch of possibilities |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1431 Posts |
Well at least they don't get as corroded and dirty as cents do. I hate how every time I find a Wheat cent, there's a 50% chance it will be covered in green stuff. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
 ! You put this off a while..I seem to remember you dreading this feat about a year ago.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
It seems like most nickels show circulation in the form of dings and contact marks, more than wear. This is particularly true with later years; you start seeing more "ordinary" wear when you get back into the '60s and before. It's also hard because a lot of them don't show much luster until the die is in a later state.
I keep any eye out for ones with smooth surfaces and few marks. If they're missing a lot of detail, it could be because of wear or poor strike, but a poorly struck nickel has pretty reduced desirability anyway, so it doesn't really matter much.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1042 Posts |
Quote:
I've had my friends 30+ year old change stash of cents for over a year now. About 2 weeks ago I got myself remotivated to get this huge, glass jug out of my house....and then I remembered why I stopped last time.....
It's extremely difficult to pick out the BU coins. He has loads of 70's, 80's and 90's BU's mixed in. That's ALL that I'm looking for outside of an obvious error. I don't know the varieties and searching for them would be far too cumbersome considering the volume. With Jeffersons, I can pick out BU coins instantly from the working pile. I can pick out the copper and culls in seconds. I find it impossible to instantly tell a cleaned Lincoln from a BU one....the questionable ones require close examination. Even then, some are very tough to tell because cents in general are HORRIBLY struck!
I used to think Jeffersons were the king of horribly stuck coins....now there's no doubt that NOPE....it's the US cent.
I'm going to get through this massive stash and then I'm never going to search cents EVER again.  I took the liberty of changing a few words in your quote Thad.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1150 Posts |
I've searched so many rolls of nickels my fingers are permanently black. I just like the fact that finding 60-70 year old coins is common. Never found any superb errors or anything, though. Well...except for the 2004 where its so heavily Struck Through Grease that the only thing showing on the obverse is Jefferson's portrait and '04. Its worth it though because you can find some older (pre-70s) BUs with awesome luster and natural toning and back in those days the coins had some relief to 'em. Anyway, good luck with the jug! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1302 Posts |
I feel the same way, but about St. Gaudens Double Eagles, that's why my jug of them is sitting in my garage and won't be gone through until I have nothing better to do. j/k.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
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I feel the same way, but about St. Gaudens Double Eagles, that's why my jug of them is sitting in my garage and won't be gone through until I have nothing better to do. j/k.  I wish I had that kind of problem!! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2224 Posts |
Up until about six months ago, I searched thousands of nickels every week. I started out in 2008 with the goal of searching 25,000 rolls of them (1 million total coins) and hoped to write an article on the results. I started the "25,000 Rolls of Nickels" thread here on Coin Community. I had a GREAT time doing it! But, about six months ago, I started getting burned out on them. Like Thad said, they are more difficult than cents to search. I got to the point that I could pick out earlier BU coins easily, but it is way more difficult than cents to do this. I got through about 21,000 rolls, but I have had to take a break. But, I will be finishing it! But...not right now. Having too much fun going through cent rolls right now.
Good Luck BadThad! It's not going to be as bad as you think.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
I know how you feel, BadThad. I search for BU Nickels constantly, and all I get are these old worn-out dark gray Nickels with big mintmarks on the back....  |
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Valued Member
United States
69 Posts |
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I really HATE searching nickels! LOL, if you ask me, there's not much better than searching nickels. I try to search 8,000 a week. -Joseph Curwen, Gent. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
Nickels are the best of coins, they are the worst of coins.
The bad thing about them is that usually both sides have severe problems from marking to poor strike, worn dies, or planchet marking. When you finally find a gem you'll turn it over and it will have one or two severe reverse problems. They are very frustrating to search.
This is one of the great things about them since you get so much satisfaction when you finally find a two sided gem. You really have something even if both sides are very choice. Putting a set of nice post-'65 nickels together is a huge task but it's can be cheap and a lot of fun.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4989 Posts |
I'll repost this one to assist with motivation:   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2295 Posts |
That is amazing to find a 1950-D and in such a great grade too! And Thad, if you don't like them so much, why bother? Why not just through them in the coin counting machine and be done with them? And who knows how much longer the cent and nickel will be around, so might as well search through rolls of them while we still have them.  |
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Replies: 20 / Views: 3,494 |
Posted 04/15/2012 10:18 pm
