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Pocket Change Goldmine: Do These 4 Uncommon Nickels Value As much as $4.5M Lurk in Yours?


Pocket Change Goldmine: Do These 4 Uncommon Nickels Value As much as .5M Lurk in Yours?
Back and front of a US Indian Head nickel coin.

The possibilities of reaching into your pocket and pulling out a coin value a small fortune are very low. Nonetheless, many U.S. cash are value greater than their face worth. A few of them are nonetheless in circulation as effectively. Nonetheless, the nickel gives you with the most effective likelihood of discovering one thing helpful in your pocket change. So you probably have cash laying round, you might need to examine you probably have any of those uncommon nickels.

Do You Have Any of These Uncommon Nickels?

The Liberty Head Nickel

The Liberty Head nickel is a design that contains a basic head of the goddess of Liberty on the obverse aspect. Collectors may name the “V nickel” for the roman numeral on the reverse aspect. This design was in circulation from 1883 till 1912.

1913-eliasberg-liberty-head-nickel
1913 Eliasberg Liberty Head Nickel. Picture Supply: Picryl.com

Whereas many examples in good situation are value way more than their face worth, it’s the 1913 Liberty Head nickel that’s the most elusive and essentially the most helpful. Though there isn’t a official file of them ever being approved or minted, 5 1913 Liberty Head nickels have been discovered. It’s nonetheless unsure how they got here to exist. However, there’s some suspicion that the primary proprietor of the 5 identified specimens, Samuel W. Brown, could have performed a job. As a former worker of the mint in Philadelphia, he could have had entry to cash that had been by no means approved for manufacturing.

At the moment, there are three on public show: one on the Smithsonian Establishment in Washington, D.C., and two extra on the ANA’s Cash Museum situated in Colorado Springs, CO. If you’re fortunate sufficient to seek out one in every of these, it’ll fetch tens of millions at public sale. In 2010, one bought for $3.7 million; one other went for $3.1 million in 2013. Nonetheless, the 1913 Liberty Head coin that bought for $4.5 million in 2018 is likely one of the most costly cash ever to come back up at public sale.

The Buffalo Nickel

The Buffalo nickel is likely one of the most iconic nickel designs and U.S. cash ever made. The U.S. mint produced the Buffalo or Indian Head nickel from 1913 to 1938. Nonetheless, it proved to be a troublesome coin to mint. There have been a number of makes an attempt to regulate the design, however the dates had been susceptible to put on shortly. Due to this fact, Congress voted to retire the design after the 25-year minimal.

Front and back of a 1935 Indian Head Buffalo Nickel
Back and front of a 1935 Indian Head Buffalo Nickel. Picture supply: Wikimedia.org.

The dies for the buffalo nickel wore out thrice sooner than the earlier design. And, it produced a number of errors which have led to some very helpful cash.

  • The 1918-17 Buffalo nickel minted in Denver incorporates an overdate error that appears as if the ultimate digit of the date had an 8 that was recast over a 7. Nonetheless, nobody seen the error till the Thirties, making it even tougher to seek out examples in good situation. One bought for $350,000, however even worn examples might get you $1,000.
  • The 1926 Buffalo nickels from San Francisco are uncommon since they’ve the bottom mintage of all Buffalo nickels. One coin in pristine situation bought for $322,000 at public sale.
  • The 1916 Buffalo nickel is legendary for its double die and the doubling of the ultimate variety of the date. Because it took numismatics 43 years to find the error, examples in good situation are arduous to come back by. One coin bought for $281,000, however even one in common situation might convey $10-$20,000.

The Protect Nickel

The Protect nickel was the primary five-cent piece ever struck from the copper-nickel alloy that we nonetheless use as we speak. And, it was the primary coin ever known as a nickel. This design was issued after the Civil Conflict and circulated from 1866 to 1883. The design symbolized the energy of a unified nation.

Front and back of a US 1866 5C Shield Nickel coin.
Back and front of an 1866 5C Protect Nickel. Picture Supply: Wikimedia.

Sadly, the coin was notoriously troublesome to strike and had a number of modifications that created a number of types of this coin. It grew to become so problematic that the U.S. authorities paused manufacturing for 2 years in 1876, and solely struck small batches by way of 1882.

The 1867 Protect nickels are extraordinarily uncommon, with solely 60 identified examples that contained a brand new reverse design. One nickel in high situation bought for round $132,000. Many collectors hope there are extra of those on the market. The 1880 Protect nickels are additionally extremely wanted. It’s among the many rarest examples since they solely minted 16,000 for circulation. One among these bought for $117,000 at public sale.

The Jefferson Nickel

The Jefferson nickel is the design you’re in all probability most aware of. The obverse aspect options the normal profile of Thomas Jefferson and circulated from 1938 to 2004. The newest design up to date the picture of the president with the Westward Journey sequence. However, the reverse aspect had totally different commemorative designs to focus on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

1945 Jefferson War Nickel Obverse view.
1945 Jefferson Conflict Nickel Obverse view. Picture Supply: Wikimedia.

Among the most fascinating Jefferson nickels date again to World Conflict II. When the U.S. mint restricted using nickel, the composition of those cash modified to a mixture of copper, silver, and manganese, making it one of the helpful cash primarily based on the intrinsic worth of the supplies.

Because the authorities produced this coin for therefore a few years, there are a number of years with mint errors that enhance the worth.

  • The 1964 nickels in Particular Mint Units with matte proof are arduous to seek out. One in high situation sells for round $8,750.
  • The 1942 Jefferson nickels from the Denver mint have a double placing of the D, making them value greater than $4,600.
  • Any examples of the 1939 nickels with the doubling impact on the phrase “Monticello” promote for round $1,500.

Bettering Your Probabilities to Discover Uncommon Nickels

One technique that coin collectors use to extend their odds of discovering uncommon nickels is coin roll looking out. Whenever you go to a neighborhood financial institution or grocery retailer, you may change foreign money for a roll of nickels. This vastly will increase your possibilities of discovering one thing helpful since you may look by way of bigger portions of nickels. Should you discover one you need to preserve, swap it out with one other nickel. Some areas will allow you to return the roll, commerce it for one more, and proceed the method.

Lastly if you happen to don’t need to purchase a bunch of rolls and search by way of them, you may at all times examine your coin assortment and see if any of your nickels are helpful.

Do you could have a uncommon nickel? Share your finds beneath!

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