Just wondering if anyone can answer a question for me. It seems to me that I am finding a disproportianate amount of 1964 nickels when I get rolls or even in my change. I would say that they average roughly 2 per 40 nickels may be even a little higher than that. I am sure that there has to be a reason but maybe not. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks!
If you look at the number minted for that year there were 1 billion P and almost 1.8 billion D mint marks minted that year. Some people attribute the higher mintage rates to it being minted until 1966 or to replace silver coins that were being pulled out of circulation at the time. I don't know about the accuracy of those two, all I know is that a ton of them were minted which is why they show up more often.
2.8 billion of them were made. The following three years were each a total of 0.2 billion. It wasn't until 14 years later (1980) that a year's worth of nickels totaled even 1 billion. Here's a quick mintage table. (I'm sure there are other better ones).
There was a severe coin shartage at the time so production was greatly ramped up, and then a date freeze was put in place and that ramped up production of 1964 nickels remained in place for almost two years. 1965 production didn't begin until very late in 1965.
Mintage in those coupla years: 1964 ......1,028,622,762 1964-D... 1,787,297,160 1965 ........ 136,131,380 1966 ........ 156,208,283 1967 ........ 107,325,800
As others have stated... Look at the numbers... When you search nickels by the thousands - 1964 among others become so common you stop even looking at them unless there are a majority of steps visible. The more you look at - the more discerning you become!