Pennies from heaven or money down the drain?

We recently bought a personal coin folder/album collection started in the 1950's from an estate sale. Would it be better to sell them as whole albums, or as individual coins? Some of the coins appear to be in mint or close to mint condition, including some red pennies. Also, a couple of Jefferson Nickels with full steps. 1st dime is 1956, 2nd dime is 1957, and 3rd dime is 1957D

 

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Just because it has those dates doesn't necessarily mean they actually started back then.. The folder could of been purchased 5 years ago and someone filled it with coins.

The nickels were inserted wrong. They were supposed to show the Obverse side.. Not the Reverse. How can you tell if the dates match up? Taking them out of course.

 

We purchased this collection directly from the 80-year-old man who told us his Dad had got him started collecting them in the 1950's. We intentionally flipped the coins before in order to show the steps. The backs of these nickels are the dates that they are displayed in.

 

Leave them as how you purchased them. Take them to a local coin shop and get their opinion.

Welcome to CT.

 

Welcome to the show. As for your cent book, find a nice '74-S to complete it, they're not hard to find. Then keep it intact and if committed to selling, do it as a whole but don't expect to get much for it. None of them stand out from the pics and are pretty commom so individually you'll likely be left with more than you'll sell if you go that route.

On the nickel book, what paddyman said. They're all pretty common years so not much extra value to them either. Still you or preferably a local coin dealer should look them all over closely to see if you find any errors or varieties that can boost the value some.

Your single nickels & dimes with the exception of the '57 D are proof and should have full steps and torch bands. They all look to have been handled which instantly devaluates them. The dimes will have some value just for the silver alone.

 

Thanks for your comments. We are newbies at this! Would you please explain what you mean by "proof"? Do you think that it would be worth it to have any of the single nickels & dimes graded? You can see the full steps and torch bands really clearly.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I could, but it would be much easier for you to just google proof coins and find your info there. It would take a lot of time to explain here all the differences.

I wouldn't send any of those for grading. Once proof coins are broken out of their original packaging, they are very suceptible to damage. So unless handled very carefully, are likely to be marred by the slightest touch of anything. BTW... all proof coins should have full steps and bands, it's how they're supposed to be.

 

Coins sold individually outperform sets. I am good friends with my dealer. He told me that people like to build their own sets. He always takes apart sets that are brought to him..... Now selling each individual coin May net you more. However the headaches of multiple auctions, packing, shipping, etc may make that a losing proposition. Jefferson’s and Roosevelt’s are fairly common. Even in better condition. These are fun coins/sets but don’t expect a windfall from them.

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

Would like some input on whether or not these nickels and dimes are worth getting graded?

 

Multiple people have told you they are not worth getting graded.

 

No!!!

 

If those full step nickels are proofs, the full steps don't count.

 

Please explain, Why not? I'm not sure that they are proofs. They were in the nickel albums, not in a proof set. Double Die said,"Your single nickels & dimes with the exception of the '57 D are proof and should have full steps and torch bands." How can you tell it's a proof from the picture?

 

We're trying to understand why is it that a circulated 1950's nickel with only five full steps is worth more than a 1950's proof coin with six full steps.

 

A proof coin is actually a process. The mint very purposely creates a proof strike to be as immaculate as possible. The coin blanks and dies used to create a proof coin are specially prepared to create as near perfect as a coin can be..... Consequently, a proof nickel would be expected to have perfect details to include the five steps....... On the other hand a business struck nickel is just that. A business strike. No special or meticulous preparation is given to a business struck coin. After untold thousands go through the die, it becomes worn. Details become fuzzy, etc. To find a business struck nickel with five full steps means that nickel was struck early in the life of the die and all the pressures of striking were just exactly correct to bring all the minute details out..... This is why a business strike nickel with full details is somewhat of a scarce find..... Hope that makes sense.

 

Very well explained!

 

I can't tell if they are proofs or not. They look pretty proofy and anyone can put any kinds of coins they like in an album. The proofs were made in Philly those years,
so if there is a D on the reverse at 3 o'clock by Monticello, it's not.
It's unusual to get full steps on any circulation strike (before they reworked the dies, but that came much later). Both of those coins have pretty clean full steps which are not unusual, but common on proof coins. (2 strikes, more pressure, special dies and planchets). If your coins are business strikes (regular coins) then they are indeed MS (mint state) and full steps. They look like proofs but I don't have the coins in hand. Proofs have that shimmering luster and great details that you rarely ever get on business strikes unless they are brand new and early die strikes.

 

The full step nickels definitely look like proof coins to me.

Maybe post better pictures so we can see for sure what they are?