@Mernskeeter, welcome to CT! Keep at it & keep learning (from the right sources!) CT has some extremely knowledgeable & helpful member to help you in your pursuit of coins. As already mentioned, YouTube (regarding numismatics) should be viewed as entertainment, less factual & more fiction. As for your Jeff, 2 steps means absolutely nothing in terms of added value. And even if you had 5 full steps, they would have to be pristine, no broken steps, breaks, bag marks, etc. in order to add value to the coin. Happy hunting!
To me your success in other ventures is evident by the use of your words tword helping me in this comment. Thank you
If you're looking to get rich from coin roll hunting the chances are slim to "nun" and slim ran off with the "nun".
When I started change-hunting in the late 1960s, it seemed like I saw more 1964 nickels than all other dates put together. They minted over 2.8 BILLION nickels with the 1964 date between Philadelphia and Denver; that's more than six times the previous record mintage (1963), and still stands as a record to this day. (They weren't all minted in 1964, though; thanks to some legal tomfoolery, and to address fears of hoarding, 1964-dated coins were minted well into 1966.) The surprising thing today is that they're so uncommon in change, as you've noticed. I'm guessing that some people save them because 1964 dimes, quarters, and half-dollars are silver. I've actually seen bags of 1964-and-earlier nickels in pawnshops labeled as "US silver coins", and priced accordingly. I really wonder if they paid on that basis when they bought them...
Then based on those YouTube videos people post the coins on eBay and ask ridiculous prices for coins that they don’t know anything about. You can see coins for sale on eBay where their descriptions don’t even match the coin at all. Make sure to be educated on anything you buy on eBay. Welcome to CT!
I just recently went through thousands of Jefferson nickels, and unless those from the 60s were mint state with full steps and would grade higher, there isn't much value to them thats much over face.
Welcome to Coin Talk , there are a lot of very knowledgeable collectors on this site that are will to share their in-depth knowledge with persons like yourself that is looking for information. A lot of You tube videos leave the person watching them to believe that rare valuable coins are easily found in your pocket change. This is not the truth , and I recommend that you purchase yourself a guide book (such as the Red Book ) and it has a lot of valuable information for the beginner and those interested in coins . The good folks here are more then willing in most cases to answer your questions , you will get the right info here ,and if somebody writes something that is not correct they are usually corrected immediately by the other members. Welcome aboard and keep hunting sooner or later you may just find one of those hard to find coins . Do not make any expensive purchases from anybody until you have checked them out to make sure they are legit and good honest dealers. Good Luck with your collecting . Dillan
A '64 or '64-D nickel with full steps is worth THOUSANDS of dollars. They made gazillions of them, but steps didn't come with them.
Okay, you made me go and look. Numismedia (which I realize is not the final authority) has MS64 FS specimens listed around $50, and not breaking four figures until MS66. 1963-D is apparently much harder, 1961-D harder still -- and for many dates from 1965 through 1970, it looks like there just aren't any FS coins. Wow. I seem to have a very vague memory of being impressed by the sharp reverses on 1971 nickels when they started appearing. I guess until then I'd never realized that Monticello was supposed to have visible steps. Edit: 1975 Red Book has a note saying FS was added below the bust in 1966, mint mark was moved to obverse starting 1968 (which I did remember), and "dies were further remodeled to strengthen the design in 1971 and again in 1972". You might infer that the strengthening is still talking about the obverse alone, but I suspect they reworked the reverse as well.
Your helpful personality is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your warm welcome and for your helpful direction encouraging my coin confidence
As I seem to remember, the tough one was the 1964-D in FS. In 1971 they used a new hub with lower relief, so FS are the rule, not the exception. I think a '64-D with FS (not 5.5) will bring the price of a new card in 65 and 6 steps - which is really FULL steps.
A cuple of steps meant s/he at least tried. Could be any number of reasons the entire ticket/goal wasn't reached: death, impossibility to complete, the famous "life got in the way". But if the first navigators didn't "try" and fail, maybe no one would have followed in their footsteps/seawake.
If I remember correctly the D is available in 5FS And a 6FS hasn't been found according to the red book this is true for all Denver mint Nickels from 60 to 67. The 6FS became standard in 1991