Why I enjoy collecting nickels.. it's so cheap!

First 1968-D PCGS MS64 FS Jefferson Nickel Made

Announced Monday, March 14th, a 1968-D Jefferson nickel with full steps (FS) was graded MS64 by PCGS made by submitter Brian Maguire who also holds the current record for all time best 1968 Mint Set in the PCGS registries. Brian searched an excess of 1800 Mint sets to find his prize. This is a significant coin in the Jefferson nickel series in full steps and is the first and only FS coin from this year and Mint encapsulated by PCGS (21865060). An estimated value of this coin is in the $25 to $35 thousand dollar range, driven by registry collectors. Congratulations are in order and this just goes to show that those "hard to find" full-steppers ARE out there...

www.varietynickels.com

 

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This is a spectacular coin.

Besides being so inexpensive compared to older coins there are multiple ways to collect the nickels. Some of these are not extremely popular so it's possible to put together important and rare sets on a shoestring. For instance this '68-D can also be found with razor sharp strikes and all the devices and lettering fully struck but without full steps since many dies never had this detail included. Fairly clean examples of such coins can be found encapsulated for a few dollars or raw for much less. This issue also appears in PL. These, too, can be found cheaply. If you prefer then you can seek the coins in circulation and you'd find they're extremely challenging and fun to put together a set in nice condition.

Most collectors would be amazed at what can be found in such coins. There have always been coins made by the mint which were not intended and these can be anything from chain strikes to branch mint proofs.

The estimate for this coin sounds a little high but imagine what a pop-1 classic coin would sell for. There are thousands of collectors of full step nickels and it gets less likely with each passing day that many more of these will be found.

 

well, I have paid out approximately $5.50 for 1968-D nickels and I think I've done rather well with the 4 coins that I have. I'll never be quite happy without the $35K one, but I think I can manage.

MS63? 4 3 3 4 3.50 steps
MS63? 3 3 3 5 3.50
MS63? 3 2 2 3 2.50
BU 3 3 2 3 2.75

I have one uncirculated set from 1968 and the -D mint in that set has no steps or 1/1/1/1 1.0 as they call it, and on top of it there are 4 ticks and 3 major cuts. Come to think of it, I bought that set on Ebay.. go figure

 

My nicest '68-D has only about three steps but is a stunning PL and is virtually mark free. The last I looked it was still quite white and has nice full rims and a sort of chiseled look to it. It was likely about the first coin from a new die (up to about 5th).

It was cherried from a very large number of mint sets that I've looked at over many years. It is one of my finest moderns but isn't very close to full steps.

It's cost was quite low.

 

That's always been one thing that I find curious about coin collecting. Why would anyone pay such a price to be mentioned on a commercial online registry list?

Is it ego? I can't think of another reason.
Of course, having a big ego and a big checkbook is fine, but they are certainly not character traits worthy of admiration.

 

Sounds neat but I wonder if the FS type for the Nickels will last....or will slowly that just be something else---
I hope that the guy that has this nickel holds on to it....If I had it I wouldn't want to sell it after looking through soooooo many Mint sets...

Speedy

 

well lets say he bought those mint sets... 1800 * oh $5 (todays red book value) so i'm assuming he's dumped $9,000 just looking for it.

My wife would kill me :hammer:

 

People have been collecting such coins since long before the registries appeared. Many of the finest moderns disappear into collections which aren't even in the registry. That the author of the quoted text mentioned the registry is irrelevant. The owner of this coin has a registry set and like some registry participants was able to find this one himself.

There are many reasons people have for having registry sets but for those to whom I speak it seems ego is not the driving force. They appear to be driven by the same desires that other collectors have for completeness, quality, etc. At least some do like the competition but it seems to generally be pretty friendly competition.

What do I know though. I'm just biding my time till I start several of my own registry sets just to keep a few of them on their toes. :whistle:

 

There are many ways to look through so many sets without actually buying them.

 

This post really made me jump up and go check out my Jefferson Nickel collections. I carefully looked at the 68D in each of the first 3 sets. I have 7 sets complete. I've never really liked the Jefferson nickels but I collect everything. The 68D's all were in Unc condition and with full steps. So I ran and checked my favorited red book. 68D in MS65 is .50, that's cents, not even dollars. I know I'm old but this post really has me wonering about my reading sences gong down the drain. A close look at me set #1 shows all coins are with full steps. Am I really nutty or what?

 

I am too...I hope that maybe someday I'll put my Proof Franklin set up...lots of people have the higher grades that I don't have but what they don't have is a matched set all in 1 grade.

Post some photos of it....there might be 1 step missing or they might be there....if they are there I'll tell you that I bet that 25-35 Thousand would go down a LOT....maybe when only 1 is around but make it a few more and it would be cheap!

Speedy

 

Actually, I say it is very relevant, sinse the estimated value is a direct result of the commercial online registry sets.

 

The prices of high grade moderns started going up around 1977 but none of the catalogs noted any changes until 2003 when Coin Values (CW Trends) started showing what the coins were actually trading for. Even as early as 1982 there were Ikes trading at close to $1000. The catalogs still tend to report these values at lower prices than they actually trade but much care should be taken since some prices are multiples of true market.

The Redbook only raised their prices for clad quarters with the 2005 edition and these prices are lower than actual market in most cases. They still report low prices for the Roosevelts. Krause has just in the last week boosted the listed prices for clad dimes but they are still much lower than you'll have to pay a knowledgeable seller. These aren't good markets for speculation for many reasons but they make great collectibles and there is still huge room for growth. Anyone who wants to collect them should pay attention to the markets and try to sell some coins from time to time. It is only when you sell that you learn the true value of something and it's better to learn the values before you get in deep whether as a collector or a speculator. If you just look at price guides you'd think that these markets are up hundreds of fold in the last several years but the fact is far more complicated than this.

It's unlikely that your coins are full step but good luck. The most prized coins will be not only full step but also choice or gem condition.

 

Oh, I wouldn't say you're "nutty" at all, probably just a bit misinformed, that's all.
You can find out how to judge whether or not your coins have "full steps" by studying the link below.

LINK (click here)

 

I would sell that thing so fast, it would make your eyes spin. Pop top coins are in my opinion, a BIG waste of money.

Charlie

 

This is everyones' natural inclination when they have many hundreds and thousands of percent profit in something. Yet, the rare moderns have continued to increase for nearly thirty years. When one looks at the situation dispassionately he'll see a market where there are only sellers yet the coins still go up. He'll see a very thin market where some great rarities still trade at prices based on face value. This applies not only to the condition rarities which can be found raw but also to low mintage coins which can be found in circulation or in dealers' stock.

It seems as though these markets are still vastly underappreciated. This does apply less to the highest grade coins than to other desirable moderns. Perhaps selling would be the sensible thing to do, but one must consider that if he does sell then he might never be able to buy it back and coin collecting has never been about doing the sensible thing.

 

I think there is a misconception here, the 2005 SMS from a nickel point of view is the only source for 4 SMS Westward Journey Nickels. True there are over a million of these, but compared to the 400 million regular issues, they are.. um.. rar.. n/m in limited quantities I would find myself comparing these more to the SMS nickels of the 1994 and 1997 variety more than I would the 1965-1967, and those are pricey to say the least.

 

By "SMS", do you mean the satin finish issues?

 

hello, yes.. the satin finish 2005 uncirculated sets. NGC has me all messed up calling them SMS, so it's in my head.

Wondering what they officially call them just "satin finish"?

 

I've been collecting coins for well over 50 years and am a little aware of what full steps are on the nickels. I've been checking with a few friends that are dealers about these prices listed here and they just laughed at me. Yes the Red Book nowadays is a little behind, but by thousands? What people usually say about coins that if you really want to know the value, try selling them. We have approximately one coin show a week in this area, numerous places where coins are sold and I try to visit them all. This nickel thing is really interesting so I think I'll try selling a set at one of the coin shows and show them the printed out information from this post.