I FINALLY got my hands on the new nickel....and I have a few questions. It came out in March...but were there nickels made (Mont. back) between January and March? If so, it seems that they would be rare in the future and would be fun to pick up a bag. Plus all of the focus will be on the new nickels coming out and it seems that the new collecting fad (Thanks to the state quarters) will have everyone shoving as many new nickels as they can in their safe.
Yes - there were nickels made between Jan. & Mar. The Mint's production of coins always begins well before the release date. Your own statement - " will have everyone shoving as many new nickels as they can in their safe." - provides the answer to your question. As is usually true with any new coin design - just about everybody saves them. This means that in years to come there will be plenty of these coins available. And the more available a coin is - the less value it has. About the only way any of the modern coins will be valuable in the next 50 to 100 yrs is if they are ultra-high grade examples. MS67 and higher examples have value now. This is because with modern production methods very few of these high grade coins intended for circulation are actually produced. As a result they are a condition rarity. And many collectors strive to collect only the best. Many others in the collecting world are firmly convinced that because of the total number of coins being produced that there are huge numbers of these high grade coins in existance. This is simply not true - never has been - never will be. If you wish to prove it to yourself - just see how many MS68 examples of any modern coin you can find.
