Want To Fix A Childhood Mistake, Please Don't Cringe.

If you can get boxes of cents, dimes, nickels from your bank, that's a great way to get a BIG head start on any "from circulation" collection. Of course you run the risk of them being all brand new rolls of coins so it's best to check them before you walk out of the bank, if possible.

This works best for nickels, but you can get a good amount of cents and dimes too (but probably no silver).

That's a nice idea and I'm sure your father will appreciate the effort. May I suggest Whitman Classic albums for these instead of folders?

I think that your father has probably got over it by now, but it is a very nice gesture.

That could certainly explain how some goodies get into circulation, and it is also a lesson to keep valuable things out of reach of children.

This happened a lot on the past ..

I did the Whitman blue folders when I was young. (in the 60's)

The Lincoln cents have more than one album.
Book one is 1909 - 1940. would be the hardest one to complete.
It will have 4 key date coins. 1909 S vdb, 1909 S, 1914 D and
1931 S. There will also be around 10 semi key dates.
In lower grades the 5 key dates could cost over $1000 to purchase.
The semi keys could cost a couple hundred.

There is a Whitman book two. It starts at 1941 and goes up,
I think, until the early 1970's. All the coins in book two
would be easy to fill.

If your father had book one .. and the keys were spent ..
I could see crying ..

Most local coin shops buy these folders frequently. I bought three
at the local coin shop I work at yesterday. Many times book
two will be complete. Book ones is almost always missing all
the key and semi key coins.

The nickel folders are more easy to complete. The key dates
in circulated condition are not very expensive.

The dime folders about the same as nickels. The 1946 through 1964
are 90% silver and will cost $1.50 through $2.00 each, in circulation
condition.

If I was going to start this project, I would go with albums,
as suggested above.

Whitman albums would be closest to the folders, I like Dansco
becase I think they are a little better quality.
Doing the albums will add a extra hole, 1922 no D .. another
key date.

Well, first, . Second, my mother did something similar with my grandfather's Peace dollar stash. She was a little older and should have known better. Third, since this is an errand of mercy, keep us informed on what you're going to do because I'm sure there are forum members with duplicates to help you out. Myself included.

If they are donated to the cause I don't think this goes against forum rules.


edit: just so we know the magnitude of this situation, how much do you think that ice cream cost you ?

Or partial sets for less than $40 will get you way ahead. I'm thinking of Lincoln Wheat cents (circulated).

And I will definetly keep you all updated.

This is what I would recommend - either ebay or a local coin store should have mostly completed albums.

You are not realistically going to find most of the pre-1940's wheats or silver dimes in change or bank rolls without searching for a LONG time.

You can buy a 1909-1940 Lincoln set on ebay missing the 4 keys for $80-100; missing the semi-keys $40-60.

The 1941-1959 can be bought for $5-10 in circulated condition and the memorials 1959+ can be had in high grade for another $20-30.

A complete nickel set in circulated condition can be bought for $40-50.

A dime set will cost you more because of the value of the silver dimes. Still. $150 might get you there.

Prices are based on memory; I haven't checked exact prices recently but they should be in the ballpark.

I know dealers that would dump a complete book two into
a bag of wheat cents. Like a 500 coin bag.

Then who the customers gives it too gets to sort and fill
the folder. We have done this many times at the LCS.