A Dream Realized

Hey Guys!

        After much labor and many pictures, I get to bring you this next post! This time I am focusing on a nickel roll hunt that I did on Sunday before I went to work. Now personally Jefferson nickels are my favorite U.S. coin. Their size and weight just work perfectly for me, and they are easy to collect. I also collect Lincoln cents but there are so many varieties in trying to collect them that I am having to take a small break until I can get the right equipment.

        Not so with the Jefferson nickels! There are no special varieties in the Jefferson years of production and the series is packed to the brim with history! My favorite fact so far is that nickels minted from 1942 -1945 are actually part silver because all of the nickel reserves at the time were put towards tank armor plating. How cool is that!

        But lets get back on track. I looked through five nickel rolls on Sunday plus two random ones I found that I threw in for a total of 202 nickels! While organizing my find by their decade of mintage I noticed a peculiar trend...

I found one nickel from the 1940's 

I found 4 from the 1950's

I found 8 from the 1960's

I found 13 from the 1970's

I found 38 from the 1980's

I found 50 from the 1990's

I found 50 from the 2000's

And I found 37 minted from 2010 - 2016

      Did you see the trend as well? Starting at the 1980's and on wards the number of nickels I found for each decade jumped dramatically. After some quick calculations I found the following:

There were 202 nickels in total. 27 minted before 1980 and 175 minted after 1980...

Or approximately 75% of the nickels I found came after the date of 1980.

      So if you are a Jefferson nickel collector, keep a sharp eye out for those early dates! The sharp eyed readers may have also noticed that I left one nickel out of my calculations. The reason for this is that it was an unexpected find and also a dream come true for me. Below you can see why this particular nickel means so much to me.

A buffalo nickel front and back

      Now these are a uncommon sight in modern U.S. pocket change but occasionally they will show up in circulated change or coin rolls. This is a buffalo nickel, the predecessor to the modern Jefferson nickel that was minted from 1913 -1938. I have always wanted to find one but none appeared in my pocket change. My first coin roll hunt was a monumental success due to this unique find and I am so excited to add it to my collection! The only problem is the date and mint-mark on the coin have been rubbed away completely by the process of time, so I have no clue when this particular coin was minted. Still the coolest looking coin ever!

      That's all for this post and I look forward to sharing my stories in the next one. Leave any questions or comments you have in the comment section below and i will do my best to answer them!

Have an awesome day and happy collecting!

- Sean