Starting A Jefferson Nickel Album

Jwalter!




When I started my Jefferson album in 2017, I got one box from a local bank and that filled in the majority of holes. I also had a handful that I inherited to put in there. I still had many holes to fill, though, especially older and key dates, as well as War Nickels.

From there, I pretty much transitioned into buying BU coins and dropped the circulation hunting. It was a great start, but like you said, you're not gonna find early date BU nickels in rolls or pocket change.

I buy and sell on ebay quite a bit and have been for some time, so I looked there for what I needed. I have never been to a coin show and have only visited one B&M coin shop. I was able to find full decade runs of BU Jeffersons being offered in lots and I was generally happy with what I received and they went straight into the album. Some had yellow toning, but that's expected here and there on older Jeffs.

One ebay seller I can recommend is "davenders." He was the one I bought those decade lots from. Here is an example of something I probably purchased:

143232912047

There are also things like the three SMS nickels (65,66 & 67) that are commonly grouped together for sale.
Unfortunately, once you get into the early 50s, 40s and 30s, those coins have to be purchased individually. The primary exception is War Nickels. Those are often sold in BU sets and I was fortunate to be able to get a very nice set from another CCF member, chipjones.

I purchased the key dates individually BU, but I still lack BU for some 30s, 40s and 50s.

I don't know if you're interested in proofs at all, but that's where I started to focus more recently. I do plan on getting them all back to 1938. I am also including varieties and errors in the set to make it more rounded, but everyone is different.

Good luck!

I have not paid any attention to that, whatsoever. If you try to complete an album with all at least 5FS, you will be paying big, big time! After a certain point, maybe the early 90s, FS is expected in general.

I would like to own a couple high grade FS nickels eventually, but it's not a concern for the raw coins in the album. I have seen some nickels graded FS that I didn't agree with, so the designation is a little iffy altogether for me to give much credence to.

For example: a 1981-P nickel in a higher grade with only 5 full steps shouldn't be too hard to find, right? Think again:

123734622906

That price is actually a few hundred less than PCGS Price Guide.

Hello Jwalter and Welcome to the forum.

I don't think you can go wrong collecting Jefferson nickels. They are my favorite as well.
It helped me that I had a paper route in the 50's. Do you plan on using an album
or 2 x 2's or ? Lots of good pointers from spruett001, good luck!

Jwalter, I have a MS Jefferson Set and was fortunate to buy many at an auction. I also have some MS coins on my eCRATER site listed in my signature line.

I was also lucky enough to buy a roll of 39D's for $7.

Jeffs are a fun series to collect. Good luck and have fun!

Also...

Glad to see some interest in one of my favorite coins, the Jefferson nickel. I have decided to start a registry set of proof Jeffersons from 1938-1964. Here's the first addition, a 1938 in PR-66

Hey Nickels! Thanks for the welcome!

I'm using a Dansco album. I really like the looks of them, and they seem to not tone coins too badly. Plus, super easy to get coins in and out of.

JW