I have a family member (lives on west coast) who rolled coins a long time ago (1980 based on the newest coin found), I was able to look through these rolls and pull any coins that I needed to start a collection. I am a little confused by what I found in the nickels and was wondering if anyone could explain how this could happen. Nearly every coin from 1975-1980 are marked D (as should be expected) I found all possible markings (none, S, D) for coins between the years 1965-1974 (sounds good) Every single coin that was 1964 and before did not have a mark. (?) I can't understand this last part, I would assume more Denver coins since these were rolled on the west coast and with Denver minting many more coins. This includes 1964 when Denver minted 1.7 billion coins.
Did you look on the lower right side of Monticello on the reverse? That's where the mint marks are on older nickels.
And if you have any from 1942-1945 look above Monticello for a large letter mint mark. These are the 35% silver War nickels.
groan..... I thought of that so I checked the book I had to see if it mentioned a different location. It only talked about the difference in 1943. I also checked a few of the coins backs to see if I could find a mintmark, I guess I picked the wrong ones. Thanks for the info.
Are the 1975-1980 coins better grades? Possibly rolled when newer or unc, closer to when released. Are the 1965-1974 coins more worn? Thus, they had time to circulate from coast to coast. As for the pre 1964 coins, maybe the family member separated the mint marks and who knows where the other mint mark rolls are, if they were even saved.
Old rolls are surprisingly elusive. Yes, you can find cent rolls from time to time but other denominations get progressively much more difficult. About the oldest quarter rolls you'll ever see is ten years or so. Post-1964 nickels can be surprisingly tough in XF and better condition since people never saved these like they did the older ones. You might want to pick through and save out some of the nicest examples. Look for coins that are well struck by new dies and have minimum wear. It would be a great time to start a folder for nickels.
