Money, money, money . . .

In recognition of Congress establishing the first U.S. Mint in Philadelphia on April 2, 1792 (yesterday), today’s post will be on coin collecting.  

In the children’s museum, Charlie has a box filled with nickels. These are not just any and all kinds of nickels, they are Buffalo Nickels that many look for but few can find because they came from the World Reserve Monetary Exchange.

In 2006, Charlie saw an ad for ‘bricks’ of 20 special rolls of twenty-five, that will increase with value over the years. Being new at collecting coins, he purchased the Buffalo Nickels and now they sit in their special box in the museum, along with other coins. After the 911 tragedy, he purchased National Collector’s Mint Silver Leaf Coin-Certificate commemorating that disaster which is in the museum.

Then recently I read this online article about the value of nickels. It said, “The value of the metal in a nickel is worth six point eight cents. According to many, it’s the closest thing we have to ‘honest money’ . . .  and people are buying them up by the truckload.” So does this mean the nickel is a good investment? “Yes!”

It is recommended that people should stock up before the nickel goes out of circulation. Wonder why? The article said, “Because the prices of these metals have dropped . . . the melt value of a 1946-2014 nickel is just on the edge of four cents. Meaning, it’s down well over a third of the price. Even though the metal value of the nickel is down, it is still a good investment because Fiat (sanctioned) money does well in deflation. Unlike gold, nickels have government-mandated devaluation protection. They’re still going to be worth five cents no matter what. At the same time, due to their metal makeup, they are protected should inflation kick in too.” So I guess Charlie’s investment is a good one. And there is so much to learn about coin collecting.

A fellow blogger, Bill Harvey, has some tips on coin collection and preservation.http://www.home-museum.com/hobbies/Coins/coins.html

Meanwhile, here are some tips on how to stack up nickels:


Every time you visit the bank, buy some nickels.

Ask them how many rolls you can buy without getting charged. Ask for new “wrapped” rolls. You could find some nickels in those rolls with minting errors. Collectors eat those things up. And they’ll pay you a good return on your (non)investment.) If you’re a business owner, you’ll have no problems buying nickels from commercial banks.
Go to your local casino, if gambling is legal in your state.
It probably has nickel slots. Bring in a big container and ask to buy some nickels. If they haven’t reverted to completely digital, you could find yourself in the money.

Stop at local businesses. At the end of the day, rolls of coins have to be dropped off at the bank. It could make sense to talk managers of stores in order to have another outlet to acquire coins.

Remember, all of this works great as long as the new nickels aren't released into circulation. Once that happens, you will have the same problems you have with pennies; the need to sift through them to find those with the metal content.

Twenty five cents,
Money that rhymes,
Take one nickel
Add two dimes.

Three fat nickels,
One thin dime.
Makes twenty-five cents
Every time.

Five fat nickels,
No thin dimes.
Makes twenty-five cents
Any time.