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Why do you collect Jeffersons....?
OldEastside
Posts: 4,602 ✭✭✭✭✭
Well back in 1971 or so A friend of mine and myself walked into this coin shop in
Canoga Park, CA, they had a Bidboard and we coughed up the dollar to join and
Billy and myself decided on the Jefferson Nickel series, we were both 12 years old
at the time, within a years time we both had completed the whitman 9009 1938 to
1961, most of it from pocket change and milk money, the 38, 39 s & d's some of
the war nicks and the 50 d were purchased via the bidboard.
From then on it was an up & down cycle of upgrade & downgrade for the next 40
years, for me at least, I bought BU rolls and continued to attend numerous bidboards
throughout the San Fernando Valley, I bought and sold Jeffies and searched for full
steps and pretty nickels, my family and friends thought I was crazy.
Closing nights at Bidboards were interesting, many times they were shoulder to shoulder
with 100 people in a 400 square foot area, and some bidders would ask what I collected
and I'd say "Jefferson Nickels", Only to have them excuse themselfs and get away from
me like I had the plague
.
I remember when Teletrade was just that, over the telephone and they would send a
pennysaver type catolog every couple weeks, and when PCGS started designating
Full Step Jeffersons, Jeffersons finally recieved there due respect.
But why do I collect Jeffersons?
Because I love shiny Nickels
Steve
Canoga Park, CA, they had a Bidboard and we coughed up the dollar to join and
Billy and myself decided on the Jefferson Nickel series, we were both 12 years old
at the time, within a years time we both had completed the whitman 9009 1938 to
1961, most of it from pocket change and milk money, the 38, 39 s & d's some of
the war nicks and the 50 d were purchased via the bidboard.
From then on it was an up & down cycle of upgrade & downgrade for the next 40
years, for me at least, I bought BU rolls and continued to attend numerous bidboards
throughout the San Fernando Valley, I bought and sold Jeffies and searched for full
steps and pretty nickels, my family and friends thought I was crazy.
Closing nights at Bidboards were interesting, many times they were shoulder to shoulder
with 100 people in a 400 square foot area, and some bidders would ask what I collected
and I'd say "Jefferson Nickels", Only to have them excuse themselfs and get away from
me like I had the plague
.I remember when Teletrade was just that, over the telephone and they would send a
pennysaver type catolog every couple weeks, and when PCGS started designating
Full Step Jeffersons, Jeffersons finally recieved there due respect.
But why do I collect Jeffersons?
Because I love shiny Nickels
Steve
Promote the Hobby
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Comments
It seemed like a reasonable and inexpensive series to collect with very few expensive keys, but also a series that had been around long enough that there were a lot of coins to buy.
<< <i>Because they are under rated! One day folks will catch on and admire a Jefferson Nickel for what it is! >>
What, you mean the last remnant of sound money still in circulation
I don't collect Jeffersons, but at some point I plan on busting open all my nickel boxes and building the best set possible at face value that I can
Longer answer: Because in the early sixties I bought a Whitman bookself album for Jeffersons and started filling it from pocket change (Eastern pocket change).
After decades of ignoring the album, I pulled it out and noticed how easy it would be to upgrade many of the coins in it--and refresh my skills at grading Jefferson nickels. I've paid $0 to $9.00 three or four times in the past two years buying mostly complete Jefferson nickel folders from local shows or bullion dealers, and I've been able to upgrade most of the 1938 to 1964 coins to XF and better.
It's been fun, and at the ridiculous prices (all of my purchases included more value in the war nickels they contained than I paid for the entire folders), it's almost like upgrading from fifty-year-old pocket change loaded with luster.
(Not a lot of full steps pieces, however.)
It's a series where the cream has not all risen to the top yet. An ordinary guy with an eye for quality can still build a wonderful set, with some time and dedication.
Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill
Hoard the keys.
<< <i>Why do you collect Jeffersons....? >>
I don't, but the thought of doing a Whitman folder full of 'em from circulation has had some appeal for me over the years. I was a bank roll searcher for a long time and I still pluck out any pre-1960 coin I see in change, for some reason.
Jeffies for a long time (and maybe still) were the final frontier of old stuff in circulation. The proportion of Wheaties to Memorials long ago became so minuscule as to not make it worth roll searching, but I've often found old Jeffies, including many war nickels.
Funny, though- I can't recall if I ever actually attempted the folder thing. I might yet give it a go. I don't expect to find ALL the war nickels, or the '50-D, but it might be fun to see how far I can get. And certainly won't break the bank.
Mine won't be shiny beauties if I take up a Jefferson set, but they'll only cost me a nickel each. As I did with my Statehood quarter experiment, I would ONLY collect them from circulation- no purchasing or trading allowed!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Their greatest strenght is that they are available and their biggest weakness is that fully struck gems are so difficult.
These coins have been taken for granted for a very long time and this will eventually prove to be an asset as well.
If they were clad they'd be well nigh perfect.
I got first shot at the large cents, and after completing an >$7k transaction, he pulled out this ancient National Coin Album
of Jeff Nickels and asked if I was interested. The set was complete from 38 to 54, all choice uncs with some nice toners.
Still being a little skeptical, I asked how much.....he said $60. I figured the '39D and war nicks were worth that much,
so I threw on the pile
I would probably do high grade with pretty colors and not worry about steps. Those steps are like bands on Mercury's....very expensive!
Successful transactions with: JimTyler, Morgan13, ChangeInHistory, LukeMarshall, Old_Collector, basets , MICHAELDIXON, Waverlycoins, dsessom, privatecoin, SurfinxHI, ZoidMeister, giorgioll, Lakesammman, Twobitcollector, Cazkaboom, Dscoin, Shrub68, CoinHunter4, Cladiator, coinbuf, Elkevvo, ChrisH82, WindyCity, Kccoin, NumisOxide, Meltdown, blaircountycoin, blue62vette, greencopper, Kliao, Downtown1974, BankerBob56, coinlieutenant, cucamongacoin, FranklinFactory, scooter25, erwindoc, bigjpst, and others.
Drunner
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>I'm gonna get me some cheap Whitman folders and start a "pocket change" set from circulation. >>
I think this would be a wise choice for anyone contemplating getting into coin collecting on a minimal budget (especially kids).
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
Ron
So one day I was scouring the Anaconda website and I found a gorgeous toned Appalachian Jefferson Nickel. I had no idea that nickels could tone so incredibly. I quickly purchased the Appalachian Jefferson along with two others that were part of Gregg Bingham's collection at one time. And this is the coin that was the inspiration for my NGC Jefferson Nickel registry collection.
Well that one coin spawned my war nickel set which eventually became this:
Once I maxed out my war nickels, I turned to the remainder of the series and the chase was on. I now have the 4th ranked set on NGC registry and I am always looking for coins to add to my collection. The early years are looking pretty good at this point.
My feelings about the Jefferson Nickel series can best be summarized by the introduction of my registry collection shown below.
The Jefferson Nickel series is one of the most diverse in all of United States coins. It is possible to assemble an album collection from searching circulated change at a minimum of expense all the way up to a $100K+ collection of top pop full step certified coins. Different collectors covet different aspects of coin collecting including but not limited to: price, rarity, strike, grade, toning & eye appeal, as well as errors & varieties. The Jefferson Nickel series incorporates all of these and really does appeal to everyone. There is a full step designation for the strike conscious collector, a multitude of doubled dies and RPM’s for the variety collector, and many fantastically patinated examples for the toning enthusiast.
I am a collector who covets eye appeal first and foremost. Without eye appeal coins become generic in my eyes. While an untoned coin can still display a measure of eye appeal based on strike and luster it just can’t approach the unique appearance that a rainbow toned coin can offer. Having said that, toning is not the end of eye appeal, rather it is just the beginning. Without luster, the colorful toning loses the vibrancy that yields the eye popping appearance.
Registry sets are typically all about grade, the number on the plastic, and points, the number on the screen. The majority of the registry participants simply list their coins in the appropriate slot never bothering to photograph or describe their coins. There is no doubt that the highest grade should be rewarded, but just as toning is only the start to eye appeal; grade is only the start to a great coin or collection. A great collection must have it all. Each coin should be superlative in one way or another, whether it is a top pop with blazing luster, a monster toner with undeniable eye appeal, or a hammered strike on a normally weakly struck issue, it must be special. Regardless of what attributes make the coin special, a number can never describe a great coin. I wouldn’t even know how to evaluate a collection without photos & descriptions.
My goal is to assemble the finest collection of Jefferson Nickels. The collection might not have the highest grades, the most points, or cost the most money, but when viewed it will leave the observer in awe. I want the other top ranking competitors to fear my collection, novice collectors to envy it, and Jefferson haters to respect it. This can only be accomplished by selecting each coin with an unrelenting focus on overall quality.
The Atlantic City Set of Jefferson Nickels 1938-1964
My Jefferson Full Step Variety Set (1938 - Current)
My Jefferson Proof Variety Set (1938 - Current)
Steve
Steve
<< <i>start a "pocket change" set from circulation. And ONLY from circulation. No purchases, trades, or gifts. Just what I get from pocket change or bank rolls. >>
no gifts or wooden nickel trades for you!
a few years ago my dad gave me a half-complete, tore up album he got at a swap meet for face value, still had some of the silver nickels,.
once we get his 2 slot machinces re keyed, ill get to search all those.
i can see some buffalos in the 'jackpot' too.
it is now ~80% complete, all obtained @ face value.
That's been a long time ago and it is still fun!
1-I was looking for something new
2-Matt had a few high grade ones for sale, one being from the Corso collection
3-bernards book. hands down must read. "The Jefferson Nickle Analyst"
Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill
'50-D nickel was something that could be found in change and I actually did in 1964. Even the oldest Jeffer-
sons still have an easily readable date even though they are 73 years old now. In 1963 the oldest buffalos
were a mere 50 years old but almost nothing more than 37 years old still had a date. So the old Jeffersons
are now twice as old as the old buffalos were when I was finishing my collection.
Today's nickels have a lot of character. Many of them have damage because they don't circulate the same way
the older nickels did. They accummulate marks faster than they wear out. They ever suffer attrition faster than
they wear out. By the time one can get to G condition it simply won't exist at all any longer. But it's more chal-
lenging to find a nice high grade 1973 nickel today than it was to find any typical date buff. And better still, it's
actually possible to find a nice AU '73 nickel where it wasn't really possible to find anything outstanding in buffs
because collectors scoured the coins starting way back in WW II.
I really like gems and nickels are tough tough tough.
<< <i>OK, let me put it this way then; I started with buffalo nickels and they were pretty much gone by 1963. The
'50-D nickel was something that could be found in change and I actually did in 1964. Even the oldest Jeffer-
sons still have an easily readable date even though they are 73 years old now. In 1963 the oldest buffalos
were a mere 50 years old but almost nothing more than 37 years old still had a date. So the old Jeffersons
are now twice as old as the old buffalos were when I was finishing my collection.
Today's nickels have a lot of character. Many of them have damage because they don't circulate the same way
the older nickels did. They accummulate marks faster than they wear out. They ever suffer attrition faster than
they wear out. By the time one can get to G condition it simply won't exist at all any longer. But it's more chal-
lenging to find a nice high grade 1973 nickel today than it was to find any typical date buff. And better still, it's
actually possible to find a nice AU '73 nickel where it wasn't really possible to find anything outstanding in buffs
because collectors scoured the coins starting way back in WW II.
I really like gems and nickels are tough tough tough. >>
you Rock, great reply-Happy Holidays.
Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill