Just got back from an auction that had a decent amount of coins for sale. I got a little scared of how high things might get when a set of 10 '74 Kennedy halves (nothing special about them, maybe 50-60 grade) went for $15 and then a set of 10 Wheaties from '45-'50 went for $10. But after that I figured no one else there was a collector as I overheard the winning bidder for the halves say something about how rare Kennedy halves are (I laughed a little on the inside). All of the nickels are from '20-'37. Roughly 45 of them would grade from a 4 to an 8 (all the dates and mint marks are still visible, but they are worn pretty smooth). 15 or so would grade around a 20 (some a little higher, some a little lower). And the rest would grade somewhere in the 30 range, with a couple of them possibly grading as high as a 40. Unfortunately there weren't any double dies or "3 leggers". But I still think I did ok. What do you guys think? I'll post pics ASAP.
That sounds really good if they all have dates and 1/3 or so of them are in the VF range!! We need pics of the better ones! Congrats!!
a buck 58 sounds a little high. Most dealers will have a junk box you can pick through, 50¢ for worn, $1 for good dates. But if you don't have a dealer close by, the cost of time/gas puts you back to your auction purchase price. If your happy, that's all that matters. Happy Collecting made a mathematical mistake, .63¢ per buffy is good!
Well, there actually ended up being 68 (I just now counted them, versus at the auction like I should have). Not quite as many in the VF range as I initially thought. Still not bad. Here are some pics...
My local dealer usually charges 12X to 15X face for common buffalos in this grade range... so you did OK. You might get a few dollars more if you sold them on eBay as a lot.
If I had any idea what that was, I very well might. Explanation? Thanks for all the feedback folks. I really appreciate it and I'm glad I went with my gut on this one.
The statequarterguy explained it well enough, from what I have read back in the day, hobos would carve a nickel and trade it for food or hobo juice (alchohol), they are very collectable and some people carve them today also, (but I do not think they are trading them for a hot and a cot). Some of the carvers are collected, much as on
