Finding Rare Nickels

Certain rare nickels become visible under the magnifying glass. Collectors use it to discover overdates, dual punched mintmarks and condition rarity coins.

The 1946-D Jefferson is a good example, still possible to find in circulation. Not a valuable coin but... look closely at the "D" mintmark and spot a second "D" hiding beneath and you have a rare nickel. In Extremely Fine condition, worth $80. How many of these are in collections waiting discovery.

Another example, the famous Three Legged Buffalo. Always in demand, a valuable and popular coin with collectors.

Examine closely all of your 1937-D Buffalo Nickels, it might be missing a leg. It happened at the mint, while cleaning one of the dies used to strike the coins, the mint polished away the front leg of the buffalo, creating rare nickels.

A three legged buffalo in good condition, a heavily worn coin, one that passed through many hands undiscovered, is valued at $300.

The better the condition of your coins, the higher the value. Collectors treasure coins in the best condition possible. A worn coin is less desirable and less valuable than one in excellent condition. Therefore they are always striving to place the nicest in their collections.

There is a rigorous system of "Grading" coins. With several categories, ranging from crisp, no wear "Uncirculated" to a coin almost smooth from wear in "Good" condition. With many subtle differences in the details of the condition affecting the grade.

Many nickels coins are known for their "condition rarity". Examples worth five to ten dollars in "Good" condition are suddenly valued at a hundred dollars or more in "Very Fine" condition. As the condition improves it becomes a rare nickel and highly collectable.

Here are five condition rarities.

Two dates in particular, the 1924-S and 1926-S jump to over $600 in the better Extremely Fine condition.

Small details, many so small a magnifying glass is needed to detect, create valuable coins. Dates such as the 1885 Liberty Nickel are well known, easily recognized and worth a minimum of $375.

However, take the time to notice the doubling of the word MONTICELLO on the reverse of the 1939 Jefferson and it leads to a find worth $40 or more.

The following rare nickels range in value of $2 to $100 in Good condition, rising to $5 to over $200 in Fine condition. Discover a 1916 over 16 Buffalo Nickel in Extremely Fine or better condition and you have found a coin worth over $12,500.

• 1912-S Liberty Nickel. The "S" mint mark is found on the reverse at the bottom, to the right of the word CENTS.


• 1916 over 16 Buffalo. Very rare, the value in good condition is $1,900.


• 1918-D, 8 over 7 Buffalo. A very popular over date variety. Somewhat difficult to distinguish. Look for a "squaring" of the number 8.


• 1949-D, D over S mint mark Jefferson. Find the "D" visible in the lower half of the "S" mint mark.


• The 1954-S/D and the 1955-D/S Jefferson Nickels. A couple of modern rarities, their values haven't matured. Both are similar in price.

Every one of these rare nickels cause dealers and collectors to pause and notice. Perhaps you will discover one in your box of old coins.