1961 coins, What the heck?

As we are going through my father-in-law's boxes, bags and folders of coins, he seems to have bags and bags of 1961 nickels and pennies. I was wondering if that year was important for coins, coin collecting or something else of note?
Thank you.
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Bag collecting was in its heyday about this time. Many coin collectors thought putting bags of new coins away was a smart financial move. Nothing inmportant occurred in the year really, and numismatically most are worth face value. Still, you could go through and try to find pristine examples if you wanted.

 

was he born in 1961 ? I was lol

 

Thank you medoraman. That's not surprising. I believe his coin collecting started as an investment.
Spirityoda, no he was born in 1924. I actually tried to figure out if it was a birthdate, the year he opened his business, etc. Would you like a bunch of 1961 coins to commemorate your birth?! lol

 

1961 was a horrible year for strike quality of nickels. High quality coins with full steps bring a significant premium for that year.

 

he was looking for the elusive "upside down" date

 

I already have a nice 1961 set but thanks for offering lol