I know it’s not the best of shape. But, this was still an exciting find for me this morning in my wife’s pocket change. Mintage of only 2.6M.
Even though they aren't nearly as valuable as they once were, finding a 50D is unusual. Old guys who started collecting in the 60s will would go nuts if the found it
Yes, while the ~$4-$6 it may be worth isn't much in absolute terms, I like to focus on the fact that it's worth ~80X-120X face.
Haha, handing over her pocket change from the day is the only thing I've succeeded at training her to do. Baby steps, I guess.
When I was a kid, I could never find this one in change so I bought an uncirculated example from a coin dealer to complete my collection. 22 years later, I was at work getting a sandwich out of the vending machine for lunch, and in the return change I got a 50-D in AU condition.
Then it would be a lot more common. In circulated condition these are a kind of grade rarity. Of all the 1950 D nickels made probably 95%+ are still in MS condition. A circulated 50-D is a rarity. The 50-D is the only Jefferson nickel I never pulled out of change. (at least through 2002. In the later years I've never seen a 2003, 03 D, 09, 09 D, 2019, 2019 D, 2020 or 2020 D.)
A couple of dealers cornered the market on them in Mint State. One of them bragged that he built a house from the profits he made. The coin is probably scarcer in the circulated grades than in Unc. in the mid 1960s, the 1950-D nickel had a retail price of $35. That was when $35 was the better part of a week’s wages and was “real money.”