1938 Nickel

The 1938 nickel was minted at the Philadelphia Mint, Denver Mint and the San Franscisco Mint.  The Philadelphia Mint struck 19,496,000 1938 nickels.  The Denver Mint struck 5,376,00 1938-D nickels.  The San Francisco Mint struck 4,105,00 1938-S nickels.  Only the Philadelphia mint produced proof nickels in 1938.  Only 19,365 proof nickels were minted that year.

In looking at the 1938 nickel value, it seems tha Mint State nickels are not hard to find from any of these mintmarks.  The real issue with the 1938 nickel is finding a sharply struck 1938 nickel.  As with most Jefferson nickels, the real nickel value comes from finding a 1938 nickel with 5 Full Steps.  According to A Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels, one out of twenty coins in the Mint State 65 qualtiy or higher will have 5 Full Steps.  So that is my mission.  I want a 5 Full Step 1938 nickel.

Do you have any advice that you can give me to help me find my 5 Full Step 1938 nickel?  I would love to hear your advice for buy this Jefferson nickel and any other us coins.

$5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold Coin

In my previous article on the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin, I discussed my love for the $20 St. Gaudens gold coin.  However, the nice thing about the $5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coin is that it is more affordable thant the $20 Double Eagle coin.

I just did a search on Ebay for newly completed sales of these $5 Gold Eagle Coins and have seen sales from $350 to over $2,000.  This is a lot cheaper than the $20 Double Eagle coins.  This price makes the $5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold Coins much easier for new gold coin collectors to start their collections.

The History of the Indian Head Gold Coin

Bela Lyon Pratt was the designed of the Indian Head Gold coin.  The U.S. Mint began minting this coin in 1908 during the Theodore Roosevelt Presidency.   The face of these coins has an awesome image of a male Indian with a cool headdress.  Additionally, there are 13 stars on the front with the words liberty.

Investing In $5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold Coins

For those wanting to invest in gold coins, $5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coins can be great coins to invest in.  Unlike newer gold coin issues, these coin have value not solely based on the price of gold.  This is a great way to buy invest in gold coins because it can add stability to their value.  When the price of gold declines, the value of these coins will decline less because of their historic value.

As with any coins that I collect, I like to buy key date coins.  So when investing in gold coins, buy a key date $5 indian head coin.  Additionally, buy the best quality coin for that key date you can afford.

What year for the $5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold coin do you think will go up in value the most?