Today I am going to do something a bit different, but
it is classified as Treasure Hunting… So whether your interest is peaked or
not, that depends on what makes your boat float, to each his own eh?
One day, sitting outside by the fire pit having a morning cup of coffee, pondering many things yet nothing which would spawn the thought which entered my head…. I know I heard the words, and clearly… “ You need to buy Nickels”… WHAT? I said verbally, “where did that come from?”
Pondering the idea as if it were some sort of
premonition, the voice I heard seemed very familiar in fact it sounded like my
brother whom the doctors killed some 5 to 7 years ago. My brother was a coin
collector and worked in a coin shop in
I thought about it for some time trying to rationalize why those words popped into my head… I thought about metal value knowing nickels other than the war nickels, are the only coin left that has any precious metal value, as little as it may be, 25% nickel and 75% copper, I can’t buy silver anymore, at least not now, and gold, certainly not… I already know where there is more silver and gold than you can count, <stepping down off of that pedestal>… but lets just call that unsupported boasting…
But I knew that if the market ever does crash, which it will, precious metal prices will soar, and that includes Nickel and Copper. Heaven forbid I have a few hundred pounds of Nickel lying around when it does happen. But one of the things that sold me is the investment… I can spend a hundred dollars on nickels, and I still have a hundred in value unlike today’s pennies, dimes and quarters.
So after throwing a 20 dollar bill at the nickels from time to time, being the meticulous soul I can be and lets not forget curious…. As I looked at them rolls… wondering… hmm… I cracked a few of them rolls open to see just what might I expect, and I dove into just about anything I could find on youtube and other sources to learn as much as I could about nickels and the history of them. I will spare you all that.
Today, when I can, I borrow or throw a hundred dollar bill at the bank and get a box of nickels, its like a kid in a candy store… I sort through thousands of nickels most of which look like they were shot from a shot gun into a gravel pile…. And then… sticking out like a diamond in a goats ass… pops out this coin that you already know is unusual and special… that is the experience I look forward to, to me it is no different that if I were walking the old Spanish trail and stumbled onto a small Silver bar…
I have found that I just cannot throw away a nice looking coin, and I thrive on the coins that carry luster, I’m not talking about “shiny” any new coin you can find shiny, shiny is easy to find but not what I want… but luster is a clear sign that what you are about to look at closely, and under microscope is special. I admit… I have been bit… I am a junky… NICKEL BAG!
Today I have no money to buy, or should I say exchange, but I decided a few months back that I am not going to hoard nickels just to have them, I find the best looking nickels I can in circulation, some I throw back and some I keep but with what I think is a strict criteria, I usually end up with about 1% of what I have gone through each box or bag of nickels, today I am at about 104,000 nickels that I have gone through, a professional in the field would say, “Oh just beginning eh?” I would have to respond with a sheepish… yes…
So if you have done the math that 1% is ten nickels per thousand, some boxes yield more and some less, but today, I have about 7-800 (less than $50) of the finest nickels found in circulation, I don’t like the new nickels 2006 and on, I think it is the worst design of a coin I have ever seen…in short terms… they suck… 2004 and 2005 are ok… but there is no coin more beautiful that the original Jefferson Nickel, running a close tie with the Morgan Silver dollar, and if I could, I’d would again collect those as I did many years ago.
So those of you who can relate… My expenditures to get
set up were about $40 for the microscope which plugs into the computer… why pay
for a second screen? My capsule containers which hold 100 nickels or up to a
quarter size coin… about $14 each… the coins are mostly free as you never
really spend the money. After going through a box I take them back to the bank
and run them through there machine… and then buy another having to maybe pitch
in a dollar or so for the coins I found and kept.
So if something like this floats yer boat great , if not simply move on… to give you and idea of what can be found in circulation, the above and following photos will give you some idea, 1-8 all 1960’s nickels, starting top left to right then down one row and again left to right (photo above), the first coin is minimum condition I collect , anything less better be rare or out it goes… the first four have a minor luster 1 being in lesser condition increasing to # 4. the second photo coins 5-8 have a beautiful high luster and these are the ones that stick out like a diamond,,, well… you know the rest.. looking at them in white led light with no scope, most would say they are the same, using a scope I say that # 6 and 7 are the finest coins, keep in mind 5, 6, and 7 were found in circulation, # 8 is an BU uncirculated coin, under a scope 6 and 7 are nicer coins than the uncirculated #8 and by comparison better than graded examples on pcgs.com. the last 4 compare in every way with Grades MS 64 to MS 68 Only one of these 8 coins is FS (full step), and it isn’t the recognized uncirculated nickel #8.
I would like to be able to trade nickels with others, some are hard to find and some more so depending on where you live. The goal is to fill my Jefferson Nickels book/album with the nicest coins found in circulation… 1938 to… ugh.. even 2023 and then hopefully by then. I can start another with the Luster coins, who knows! But that may not happen simply because the book requires filling the proof slots and proof coins just don’t excite me… but I’ll tolerate them… leave the glory, the pride and political bullshit behind and do it just because you enjoy it, no matter what it is you do…. This is one of the many things that keeps my boat afloat… Treasure hunting in a box, at home yet…
An ANACS grader once told me, this is a millionaires game, they don’t do it to make money, they do it to spend money, you will never find the coins you are looking for… I feel sorry for them… sounded like a challenge to me… and so far I have found several…
I hope you enjoyed the story… and the message…