Completing a Whitman nickel album through circulation finds
Wahoo554
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My grandfather passed away in 1989 and left a Whitman nickel album with many holes. These last several months I’ve really enjoyed going through rolls of nickels to try to fill the holes/upgrade whenever possible. It’s nice that there’s actually a decent shot of one day completing it. Found this puppy in a customer wrapped roll yesterday and it’s just gorgeous. I wonder where it’s been all these years?
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I wouldn't be surprised if that coin was previously in someone's collection. It appears to have very little wear and would grade AU58 (or maybe even MS62 by today's standards). Finding a 69 year old coin in that good a shape is unusual!
I had the same project going on but I broke down and bought the missing ones on the BST board.
Successful buys on BST board from NotSure, Nankraut, Yorkshireman, Astrorat, Ikeigwin(2x), Bob13, Outhaul, coinbuf, dpvilla, jayPem, Sean1990, TwoKopeiki, bidask, Downtown1974, drddm, nederveit2
Always fun to do that I am working on a red set of cents from 59 up with roll finds Harder then I figured it would be but fun none th less
HAPPY COLLECTING
Filled mine when I was a kid, still have it.
Which do you need?
I wouldn’t be surprised if this one came from an old collection. Also found a nice ‘38 in really good, though not quite as good, shape in the same batch. Picked it up at a bank on main street in a small eastern NC town on the way home from a work trip. This project is quite fun and the perfect evening activity when you have a pregnant wife who now goes to bed really really early.
Great looking piece👌🏻
Still have quite a few to go...between 1938 and 1961 I still have 18 holes, but they are slowly, but surely filling in. I have a feeling the 1938-d and s will take some time as will the 1950 and 50-d.
I have a 39,46,41d,52,40,64d,47, in good if you need them, you can have them. Pm me.
Thank you so much for the generous offer! I happen to have those dates already, plus I’m not quite ready yet to give up on finding everything in the wild.
Very nice project, I've filled two complete nickel sets from the wild and have a bucket load of numerous 30's, 40's and 50's dates left over. Enjoy the hunt!
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I have yet to find a 1939-D nor a 1950-D in circulation, and I have been looking for nearly 50 years.
The 1950 will be super tough as will the 1942-D, 1951-S , 1955 and 1958.
Up until about 30 years ago , I could find the occasional (very occasional) 1938-D or 1939-S.
Not any more.
The war nickels will be hit or miss too.
You're likely to fill them before you find the 30s mint marked coins.
Good luck and keep us in the loop.
Stuff like this is fun.
Wahoo554:
Nice 1951-D there!
Is that one indicative of the grade of the rest in the album, and/or what you are looking for to fill your remaining holes?
What dates are you down to now?
-- Dave
I roll searched cents and nickels in the late seventies. With the nickels
I was able to put together 2 roll sets through 1979. NEVER found
a 1950-D.
Fun project. Last year I found a 1939 S nickel in change.
Have fun! Keep us updated on your progress.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Great project... just like the old days of coin collecting. Not an easy task, but the hunt is fun...Cheers, RickO
I have completed a Whitman Jefferson album myself from circulation and roll searching. The '42-D was the last to be found.
Did you actually find a 50-D in circulation? I have been collecting since 1961 and have never found one! (Virtually the entire mintage was hoarded in mint state condition.)
You can sometimes fetch a 1938 or 1939 nickel out of change. I think it was a 1939 that came to me a few years ago in my daily change. Keep you eyes open!!
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
Great work. Love the sparkle.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
Thanks! I wish that condition were indicative of the majority of the collection, but the bulk are in well worn condition, with a few AU/MS nickels from the late 60’s/early 70’s I’ve come across. I don’t think my grandfather started the collection until the late 70’s/early 80’s. Here’s a photo of where the album stands as of last night:
Interesting. Do you know why that particular issue was hoarded?
The story I have heard is that they were released very late, after the low mintage was known. The hoarders were apparently ready to pounce on the coins as soon as they became available.
Took over 105,000 coins from rolls, but I completed my childhood Jefferson set back in 2011. And yes, I did find a 1950-D.
I completed a set from circulation - it took me almost 45 years. I still get a kick out of finding nickels from the 50s and earlier in circulation.
Fun task. I almost completed it, needing only the 1939-D. I still remember finding the 1950-D (in about VG). I was a '50 and turning it over, I saw the D. Still have all of these. That was over 20 years ago, so not sure about doing it again today.
Roll search, probably 5-6 years ago. As for the '39-D I have probably over a dozen of them - some heavily circulated also. The '39-D is a scarcity that passed under the radar and actually entered circulation. The '50-D is a midgrade coin and wasn't with a bunch of older dated nickels in the roll.
I have probably gone through about 750-800 thousand coins to find those though.
I think the fact that they were trading for so much in the 1950s and early 1960s says a lot about the hoarding mentality. I've found much more unusual and pricier coins in roll searches, the 1925 Canadian 5 cent coin for instance - but less people in the USA care about those.
nice nickel & all the fun of doing a folder/album
I have found a 1939 s on the end of a nickel roll recently.
As I said earlier I have done this two times, here are some of the surplus nickels I pulled from circulation, note the 1939 tube on top. While the majority of the tube is made up of 39P's there are 2 D and 5 S mint coins all from pocket change. The coins you need are out there but it can take time to find them. The only coin I didn't find for my sets was the second set's 50-D, finally gave up trying to find another and bought that one lol.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
When my dad passed away a few years ago, I found 30+ Peace dollars and a quart jar full of wheat cents in his "stuff". About a year later I went thru them all and found he had about 1/2 a full set of Peace dollars and 1/2 full set of Wheat cents. Most were VG's to XF with a few AU's. So, I did what comes natural to a coin collector. I bought a couple of coins albums, added his coins and made a list of what I found from his "stash" and then completed the sets during the next few coins shows. The 4 or 5 key dates from the Wheat set (which he didn't have of course) cost more than all the other's together, but it was fun.
I never could assemble a complete set from circulation when I was a kid. Had to buy a 1950-D back in 1969, and it was MS. 22 years later, a 1950-D in AU dropped out of a vending machine at work. It made my day.