Author Topic: Collecting/trading Coins  (Read 4765 times)

mrgrump

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 77
Collecting/trading Coins
« on: May 26, 2015, 12:09:00 PM »
I was curious if anyone collected coins, specifically Nickels on here. My 2.5 year old and I began collecting them when he found a nickel on the sidewalk. We began putting them in a coin folder and then grandpa and everyone else started saving there nickels for the little guy. At this time he doesn't give a darn about the year but I sort through them and he puts them in the folder, the extras go to his college fund. In a little under 6 months we have collected all the nickels from 1958 to current except 2009 and stocked away $25 in his college fund.  I have started to save the duplicates that predate 1960. I was curious if anyone had any spares or were trying to complete a similar set. I am not looking for different grades and technical trades. Simply put if your interested in trading a few nickels let me know. It's fun watching the little guy collect new ones but they are getting harder to find!!!

forummm

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7374
  • Senior Mustachian
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2015, 01:21:34 PM »
Sounds like a fun hobby. I don't keep any change around at all though--strictly credit cards and some paper bills for emergency.

seattlecyclone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7254
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Seattle, WA
    • My blog
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2015, 01:42:03 PM »
One nice thing about nickels is that they haven't changed the metal composition since the coin was first introduced after the Civil War (except for a brief period during World War II), so you can still find some pretty old ones in circulation. Buffalo and other older varieties are quite rare to find, but coins from 1938 (when the Jefferson design was introduced) onward are relatively available. Higher-denomination coins were made of silver before 1966 and are thus practically absent from circulation before that date.

nereo

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17499
  • Location: Just south of Canada
    • Here's how you can support science today:
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2015, 02:26:51 PM »
One nice thing about nickels is that they haven't changed the metal composition since the coin was first introduced after the Civil War (except for a brief period during World War II), so you can still find some pretty old ones in circulation. Buffalo and other older varieties are quite rare to find, but coins from 1938 (when the Jefferson design was introduced) onward are relatively available. Higher-denomination coins were made of silver before 1966 and are thus practically absent from circulation before that date.
Ooohhh!  I got a buffalo nickel as change a few weeks ago.  So excited!  I don't really understand why it makes me excited, but just to have something that's been in circulation for ~100 years is pretty darn cool.  'course, it now sits on my shelf so technically it's no longer being circulated, but...

mrgrump

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 77
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2015, 02:54:10 PM »
Seattle - Sounds like you know what you are talking about. You just confirmed everything I have found in my little bit of research regarding Nickels. We got lucky today and picked up a 1946 Nickel as change at the grocery store. Like Nereo mentions it's awesome to think of the places a coin could have traveled in almost 70 years. I was bummed to learn that it is nearly impossible to pick up the War Time Nickles through circulation. Do you have any suggestions on where to find the older nickels or is just dumb luck? I was hoping to find a website or some people to trade with but everyone seems a bit more passionate than I and the little guy seem to be as we are just trying to fill up our book of Nickels, and ignore all the technical jargon.

seattlecyclone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7254
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Seattle, WA
    • My blog
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2015, 03:10:53 PM »
I have gotten a couple of war nickels through circulation, but they're about as rare as buffalo nickels. I've heard if you ask at a bank for rolls of coins that customers hand-rolled and brought in, you might have a higher chance of finding old ones because people sometimes bring in coins they've had sitting in a jar for a few decades. Good hunting to you!

Frankies Girl

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3899
  • Age: 86
  • Location: The oubliette.
  • Ghouls Just Wanna Have Funds!
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2015, 03:31:58 PM »
I have tons of coins. I collected (lightly) myself through my teens/twenties, and just got a large amount of coins from my dad's collection. My faves are the walking liberty half dollars, standing liberty quarters, Ben Franklin half dollars, and some of the older stuff - Peace Liberty and Morgan silver dollars... but my absolute favorites are the Mercury dimes. So pretty! I have a tramp necklace made from a Mercury dime (they cut out around the face so it looks like a little cameo pendant).

I have lots of nickels; some older Jefferson nickels and a great herd of Buffalos (most of which have the dates rubbed off due to the poor date placement; dated buffaloes are good, but they mostly aren't worth a whole lot). Even have some Liberty head V nickels around here somewhere. But nothing outstanding; from what I've read, finding a rare coin in circulation is a very unusual event.

PM me if you have some dates you are missing on your nickels, and I'll check through my pile. :)

OH! And make sure to check your dimes, quarters and half dollars when you get change. Anything that predates 1964 is probably made from 90% silver and worth more than face value! Depending on the current silver price, you could have a quarter (for instance) worth about $3-$3.50 each.

I love finding those, and it's fun to do a "ring test" on them. Take a new quarter and a pre-65 quarter and drop them on a hard surface (like a table). The silver coin rings "higher" in tone than the alloy coin.


forummm

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7374
  • Senior Mustachian
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2015, 03:39:29 PM »
Is it nickels where the older ones are worth more than 5 cents in the value of the metal? I read about people who acquire hundreds of dollars worth of nickels to sort out the older ones and hoard them. It's not legal to melt them down yet, but they are waiting for that day.

The opportunity cost of all that time and money is way more than their efforts could yield. But something tells me it's not about the money...

YK-Phil

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Nayarit (Mexico)
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2015, 03:48:55 PM »
I don't collect coins and have no knowledge or interest in this hobby, although I quite enjoy reading about the history of each coin. But I have a small collection of 20 Franc gold coins commonly called Napoleon inherited from my grand-mother. All issues are 90% fine gold, have a nominal net weight of 6.45 grams and a diameter of 21 mm. I am wondering whether I should sell them for their value in gold (about $260 per coin, give or take a few dollars depending on the price of gold), or if there is a different way to value them. I don't want to hijack this thread but any pointers would be appreciated.

seattlecyclone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7254
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Seattle, WA
    • My blog
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2015, 03:59:00 PM »
Is it nickels where the older ones are worth more than 5 cents in the value of the metal? I read about people who acquire hundreds of dollars worth of nickels to sort out the older ones and hoard them. It's not legal to melt them down yet, but they are waiting for that day.

The opportunity cost of all that time and money is way more than their efforts could yield. But something tells me it's not about the money...

Perhaps you're thinking about pennies? The copper ones from before 1982 are worth about 1.8 cents melted down. Nickels, on the other hand, contain metal that is worth approximately 3.8 cents. Nickels have had the same weight and metallic composition since they were introduced in the 1860s, except for a few years during WWII where they were made partly out of silver because the nickel was needed for the war. The war nickels contain metal worth more than face value (by almost a dollar now), while other nickels don't. The old ones can be worth more than face value because of their general collectible value, not because of their underlying metal content.

However some people think nickels can be a decent hedge against inflation since the metal value is almost face value and could easily go above five cents if we have a few years of high inflation. I guess you could see it as no worse than holding cash in a checking account, with a potential melt-value upside if we do have some inflation. Personally, most of my money is in stocks and it's going to stay that way.

Frankies Girl

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3899
  • Age: 86
  • Location: The oubliette.
  • Ghouls Just Wanna Have Funds!
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2015, 04:08:38 PM »
Is it nickels where the older ones are worth more than 5 cents in the value of the metal? I read about people who acquire hundreds of dollars worth of nickels to sort out the older ones and hoard them. It's not legal to melt them down yet, but they are waiting for that day.

The opportunity cost of all that time and money is way more than their efforts could yield. But something tells me it's not about the money...

You can sell coins to dealers at "melt value" at any time you want to; this just means you're selling the coin for the value of the metal itself and now for the value of the coin, and usually done when you have a coin that is unable to be dated or is not a valuable coin (meaning the value of the precious metal outweighs the value of the coin itself).

Pennies pre-1982 mint date are mostly made from copper.

Nickels are made up of 75% copper and 25% nickel (from 1946-2015, but a possible change up to a stainless steel nickel is being discussed). Wartime nickels from 1942-1946 were made of 40% silver, so they are worth about $1 each.

And like I mentioned above, dimes, quarters and half dollars are almost pure silver before 1965, so they are always worth much more than face value.


There are a few reasons to collect: most just enjoy the hunt and collecting part; and there are folks that specifically collect high precious metal content as another aspect of their investment portfolios (having hard currency and/or gold or silver): and then we come to the folks that think they need to stockpile "valuable" coinage in case of zombie apocalypse/economic/government breakdown (and stockpiling food, toilet paper and guns/ammo are a given there as well).

I personally think old coins are beautiful and like thinking about how many places they've been and the people that might have handled them, but I do also enjoy the idea that I have a little precious metal in my possession (albeit very little - would NOT lock up a large amount of $ in coins/precious metals).


Just remembered - check out http://cointhrill.com/ too. It's run by J Money, the guy that also runs Rockstar Finance and Budgets are Sexy. He's a big coin nerd too, and I believe he does trades on the site as well. :)


« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 04:12:07 PM by Frankies Girl »

mrgrump

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 77
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2015, 04:38:56 PM »
Thanks Seattlecyc and Frankie's girl..

I agree with all the sentiments about the history of the coins and collecting them along the way. Collecting as a hedge on other assets seems a bit far off for our nickel book with a face value of about $20. (Including the book). I picked up a dime folder today to hopefully keep his interest going once the nickels become fewer and farther between. As far as graded coins and "rare coins" maybe some day but that all seems to official.

The eisenhower and ben Franklin dollars would be awesome to collect and its sad some people think a peice of history is better off being melted.

seattlecyclone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7254
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Seattle, WA
    • My blog
Re: Collecting/trading Coins
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2015, 04:49:01 PM »
The eisenhower and ben Franklin dollars would be awesome to collect and its sad some people think a peice of history is better off being melted.

As far as I know it's pretty rare for these coins to actually be melted. The melt value just provides a benchmark for what it's worth when it has no particular value as a collectible. Even a very worn US silver coin will trade at a slight premium over other random silver bullion pieces made by non-government entities.