So, I recently found a very nice war nickels holder online...and I thought it would be a nice little project to put together. I have a set of war nickels but they are all very circulated and discolored. I figured putting together a nice BU set would be a fun project without a huge cost since all of the coins are pretty common. I did a quick scan on eBay and it appears that BU examples run in the $10-$15 range or so. Does that seem like a fair price for these coins? I'm only interested in raw coins, none slabbed. This is a set I have never really done before so I don't know much about them.
I've been buying nickels online lately to complete my full Jefferson BU set. I've snagged a few of the War Time nickels for under $10 bucks, depending on how many steps they have on them is where I draw the limit, if they look to have most of the steps, I'll bump it up to about the $15 range, I don't go much higher though and will go find the next one to hopefully steal at a lower price.
My red book says $5-7 for ms-60. Here is one for $6. http://compare.ebay.com/like/320856796256?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y Just gotta keep looking. Ignore the overpriced sellers.
Ignore the Red Book, those are outdated. The key I found to buying Jefferson's is getting them with steps which will drive the cost up a little higher and make the nickels worth a little more.
Being as all are very common, its a fun and inexpensive set to put together. If you have any older or long established coin shops in your area, I highly suggest you check them out as such places often have an overabundance of BU war nickels. I've completed many sets of high quality coins over the years, all bought at generic prices. Even now gem coins can be had for around $5 if you take the time to look.
Red Book prices aren't next to useless, they are useless. You should be able to pick up nice BU examples in the $10-$15 range. Well struck examples with full steps sell for considerable more.
OK, so it sounds like with a little searching a decent price can be found. All I really want is a set with nice eye appeal. They don't have to be perfectly struck or anything. Just a nice little easy side project.
