Hi CoinTalk, I found this 1956-P Nickel while I was roll searching. It has really sharp details and a golden tone. Does it look like a proof? Thanks!
No, it's a business strike. It was also probably in a collection, probably in a folder like yours there, where it toned. The reverse may not be as toned being inward facing. How does the reverse look?
Thanks for that. Not much difference. It may have been in an album then. But when I see gold toning, I often associate that with a liberated album/folder coin. At my LCS, they routinely liberate coins culling out the more desirable coins and offloading the rest. Depending on storage conditions of the previous collector, coins can be bright, toned, or ruined. On a similar note, I had great difficulty finding a nice AU/BU specimen from CRH events. Finding one like yours took a long time for me for whatever reason. Keep that in mind as you fill your holes. You should be able to match that reasonably well on condition, but toning might be real difficult.
Thank you for the detailed response. I am trying to be selective when it comes to condition, especially for the high mintages.
That's a good game plan!! When I'm building a circulation set, I put the coins in 'loosely' so that when I find a better one, I can take it out carefully and update it with the better coin. I did this for a 2015 Objective I set for myself: To see how far I could get building a Jefferson Series set from CRH finds. I got to within 8 or so by the end of the year. But from the mid 50's forward, you should be able to fill each slot with an AU+/BU coin. Prior to that, you'll still be able to fill many holes with AU+ coins as collections are 'liberated' and put back into circulation. Most of the pre-55 coins will be VF or better. It was a great and fun challenge. You should be able to find a number of really great coins like that 56 of yours. I'll check to see if I have pictures of that challenge to post you.
Thanks. Putting the coins in loosely is smart. And I'm brand new to grades, so Photograde will be my friend. Some of my War Nickels are pretty grungy, but beggars can't be choosers (I'm just hoping to find one of every War Nickel). I'm also looking forward to finding some key dates--none yet! The "S" marks should be an interesting challenge because I'm on the east coast.
The edges of a business strike are chamfered ( rounded very slightly ) so they could work in machines with less jamming. Proofs were not intended for business and the edges are sharp right angles. Easier to tell than surface usually. Jim
Photograde is your friend. A very nice tool to have especially on coins that are generally more subjective in the grading process (e.g., Buffalo Nickels). War Nickels: you will find liberated war nickels but to be honest, expect grungy for that sub-series of Jefferson nickels. they just tend to be grimy and dull. 1943D was the last one I found in my first circulation set. It was a nemesis coin for a long time...but the 1942D was a close 3rd. 1st toughest was the 1939D. My first two 1950D's were liberated coins; one BU and the other would have been BU but ended up having a couple nicks from a coin counter/roller/something. Otherwise, they were definitely from someone's collection at one time. S Mint specimens: I'm in Connecticut but as far as Jefferson nickels go, finding S mint nickels is way more common than S mint Cents. So there is plenty of hope for you to find your S mints. To be honest, I think my roll set (Jefferson) have most D and S mint topped off (tubes are at least 3/4 to full, save for the rarer dates/mms and War Nickels). Be patient there too. After 5 to 6 years of searching boxes/bags from the bank, I was able to build a few circulation sets. And for my BU set, most of the nickels from 1956 forward were roll finds. Oddly enough, the toughest decade to find AU+/BU coins was the 70s. But time and patience paid off. So take it slow and enjoy the journey. When I did my 2015 challenge, it became apparent that a person could put together 90% of the series in about 4 boxes (if you weren't fussy). So be fussy and make it a Circulation set that you'd be proud of. I wish you the best of luck!!
