New CRHer Question about nickels!

[Brizors]

New CRH'er Question about nickels!

So I found a decent guide that tell which pennies and half dollars to look for that are worth picking out when CRHing, haven't goten to my dimes yet, although I'm on nickels now and found this guy:

Basically what he says to look for are:
1913 and below
1913-1938
1939 D
1939-1940 reverse of opp yr error
1942 S (silver)
1942 P (large P on back of coin for silver)
1942-1945 war nickels (silver)
1950 D
1955
1950-1964 proofs look frosty (have no mint mark)

I found quite a bit of 1950-1964 so far which he says to look for "proofs" which apparently have no mint mark and are "frosty". I really can't tell if any are "frosty" they all looked pretty much the same. Although MOST of the 1950-1964 I found so far have a mint mark, all but 2 so far into a few rolls didn't, and they are both 1964 with no mint mark on front or back. Does this mean that these 2 are proofs?

 

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[Dozer D]

I would really suggest getting a recent edition (or previous years) of the "RED BOOK OF U.S. COINS". Read up on what you really want to get into, with much more info that you are looking for, and very helpful.

 

[galenrog]

Dozed gave good advice. The Whitman Red Book is a very good guide.

Additionally, here is how my basic sort is set up:

Shield. 1866-1883. Have never found one in circulation, but did find a few in a cache several years ago.
Liberty Head or "V". 1883-1913. I find a few every year.
Indian Head or Buffalo. 1913-1938. I find nearly as many of these as I do 35%ers.
Jefferson. 1938-now. I break these down a bit more on my basic sort.
1938-1949 less War Nickels.
War Nickels. 1942-1945. In 1942, two alloys were used. The standard cupronickel alloy still in use today and a copper-silver-manganese alloy that was used to free nickel for use in the war effort. This 35% silver alloy remained in use through the end of 1945. These "War" Nickels are easily identified by the location and size of the mint mark located on the reverse above Monticello.
1950-1959.
2009. The mintage this year was less than 15% of what was typical, making it popular to some collectors.

I also glass over every coin for errors. The common errors are listed in most guides. The most common errors I find are "off center" strikes and "clipped planchet".

Also so found are proofs. When you put a proof, even one with moderate wear, next to a business strike, you will know the difference.

Have fun.

 

[Brizors]

Thanks for the advice and I will pick up a red book! Unfortunately I do not see much of a difference in the 2 proofs I found vs other coins with exception of actually being opposite of "frosty" and slightly but almost un-noticeably shinier than other coins. In fact one of them is less shiny than other non proofs.

Basically if it weren't for the date and checking for no mint mark, I would not have known.

Oh hmm, I don't think I will even collect the 1950-1965 proofs, unless they are uncirculated then apparently they are only worth face value.

http://coins.about.com/library/US-coin-values/bl-US0005-Jefferson-Nickels-1938-1964-Values.htm

 

[Chizzy]

All good info from the forum responders.........

You may also want to look for any "Henning" counterfeit nickels............there are some in circulation........Google is a good place to get an accurate description.

 

[Brizors]

added it to my list!

 

[enamel7]

The nickels you are finding aren't proofs. All Philly strikes of that time period had no mint mark.

 

[Brizors]

Oh weird, i guess there is some mis-information going around about that then.

 

[galenrog]

Lots of misinformation out there. YouTube seems to have a lot of it. For every accurate video there seems to be hundreds with bad information. I think this is primarily due to ignorance and lack of experience, but at least some are due to stupidity. In time you will learn most of what you need to know. The rest can be found online, but YouTube has to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Brizors]

I think I'll just buy a book and bypass the BS. So Whitman's Red Book is the one to have? What about that Cherrypicker's one?

 

[galenrog]

I do not own any of the various cherrypicker guides. Some find them useful. My advice: Make a
short list of what you want to keep. Make the catagories and date ranges as broad as you feel comfortable with. Put your coins aside following your list. When you have sufficient coins of a particular catagory, then divide them into any subcategories you might make. One example is keeping all 1938-1961 nickels together until you have a few
hundred, then break them out to see how full you can make a Whitman folder.

That is just one example. Look at what others do and if it makes sense to you, start that way.

 

[Brizors]

Very solid advice, appreciate it

 

[Brizors]

So I've finished with my roll of nickels and I have some more questions.

I am wondering if the penny and nickel on the top left of this image are off center enough to be an error or rare or worth anything more than face value?

These next 2 images are 1997P and 1994P which I heard are worth $$ if they are proofs, problem is I don't have an eye for it yet and can't tell even after some image searching.

These next 4 are all shots of the same nickels from different angles I thought could be considered "uncirculated". I wanted to know if any actually are or if they need to be even less worn?

 

[enamel7]

#1 they aren't worth anything but face.
#2 proofs will have an "s" mint mark so those aren't proofs.

 

[Brizors]

#1 they aren't worth anything but face.
#2 proofs will have an "s" mint mark so those aren't proofs.

"they" as in everything I posted including the 2 off center coins and everything else pictured?

Also this is calling the 1994P and 1997P "matt proofs" and is listing them as worth a lot of money: Jefferson Nickel Values 1965-Date Any truth to this? Or is about.com spewing BS as usual.
"These two nickels were issued by the U.S. Mint in special low mintage collector sets. The coins have a special finish on them that gives the entire surface of the coin a frosty finish.
1994 P Matt Proof 1997 P Matt Proof"

I haven't picked up a Red Book yet so this is why I was using this website.

This site as well states the above dates can indeed be said "matt proofs": Jefferson Nickels
1994 P "Special uncirculated Nickels were included in the 1994 Sets. They are extremely well struck, like Proof coins, but have a satiny, matte appearance."
1997 P "Special uncirculated Nickels were included in the 1997 Botanic Gardens Sets. They are extremely well struck, like Proof coins, but have a satiny, matte appearance."

All I am asking about these is if I have any in my above pics of 1994 P and 1997 P nickels I found.

 

[pyrbob]

Brizors, you ask a lot of great questions and I like your enthusiasm. Unfortunately I agree with enamal7. The above coins will not have a premium. The coins you are calling off center are actually not off centered errors. An off centered error is a coin struck without the collar die and some of the design will be off the coin. The coins you have are struck in the collar with the dies slightly out of alignment. This is called a misaligned die or MAD for short. They are very common and do not bring a premium until again part of the design falls off the coin.

The 1994 and 1997 matt proofs were only issued in special sets as you noted so the chance of finding one in circulation is very low. Besides if you did the circulation wear will greatly lower the value. My suggestion if you want to continue to look for these is to go to a coin shop or a coin show and find the sets they came in. Then look at the special nickels in the sets to see how the special finish looks. You can do this to educate yourself without buying the set.

So keep looking, keep asking questions and most importantly keep up the enthusiasm.

 

[Brizors]

Wow, thank you so much for all that info pyrbob! I really appreciate it and the way you explained it to me helped a lot. It can be tough to find good information especially when things can be so specific, I have found.
I sort of figured that even coming across a matt proof that it would be worn enough to not be able to tell it apart. :/

Now that I have most of my nickel questions out of the way I can move the ones in question from my desk and into their organization, and finish off my first pickup with the dimes.

One more question although, did you see any nickels that could be considered uncirculated in my pic above asking about that?

 

[pyrbob]

It's hard to tell from those photos but you ask if they need to be less worn. Keep in mind an UNC coin has no wear at all so if it is possible for a coin to have less wear then it is not an UNC. Uncirculated coins typically come from solid date UNC rolls but you can sometimes find them in mixed rolls. What you want to do is look at the coin under a good light and rotate it around looking at the luster. If you see breaks in the luster on the high points of the coin then it is not an UNC anymore. Also you want to find UNC coins with very few bag marks which are the nicks on the coin.

 

[Brizors]

Thanks that makes sense. I saw so many coins on ebay labeled as uncirculated, though they had decent shine, many nicks as well.

I think that I might have actually found a 1964 uncirculated penny, check this out!

You can see the difference in it's luster/shine compared to a regular looking penny below it in this pic:

It has this insanely bright luster on it that the camera didn't pick up from that angle, it is easier brighter and shinier than any coin I have come across.

edit*
I was actually able to capture it's luster compared to other newer coins in good condition:

The finish really is mirror-like.

 

[pyrbob]

That one looks very nice. It would look good in a set if you are keeping one. The 1964 cent has a nice doubled die reverse but I don't see it on this one (I always check this date for the doubled die). Still it is a nice coin.