US Nickel Coins: Rare Nickels with a Bright Future

United States Five Cent Coins
	Certain US nickel coins have shown solid price trend appreciation over long periods of time. These rare nickels have always been popular with collectors, providing the impetus for sustained value growth. Here, we've highlighted a few US nickel coins having a bullish future, based on past performance. 1937-D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel

Date: 1937-D Three Leg Series: Buffalo nickels Mint: Denver

G R A D E	Estimated Coin Value in Year...					Compounded Annual % Rate of Return Since...
	1950	1980	1995	2000	2006	1950	1980	1995	2000
G-4	1.25	125	100	150	500	11.08	5.27	14.35	18.77
VG-8	1.50	160	200	225	725	11.45	5.76	11.33	18.19
F-12	2.00	175	250	275	900	11.31	6.25	11.26	18.46
VF-20	2.50	225	300	350	1000	11.08	5.68	10.55	16.18
EF-40	4.00	270	425	425	1250	10.60	5.84	9.41	16.66
AU-50	5.50	295	525	600	1500	10.34	6.21	9.14	13.99
MS-60	7.50	475	1250	1350	2750	10.91	6.72	6.79	10.70
MS-63	-	-	3500	3250	6250	-	-	4.95	9.79
MS-65	-	-	15000	15000	30000	-	-	5.95	10.41

Comments: In 1937, an inexperienced Denver Mint employee improperly used an abrasive stick in an attempt to remove clash marks from a Buffalo nickel reverse die.  In the grinding process, the bison's foreleg was removed, and coining was then resumed with the "repaired" die.  Before inspectors realized the goof, a small quantity of "three-legged" nickels escaped into circulation.   From that moment to this very day, the 1937-D Three-legged variety has been one of the most desired Buffalo nickels, with a a legacy of solid price advancements to prove it.  The last several years has been especially good, as has the coin market in general.  Buff collectors needn't fear overpricing, though, because if held long term, the 1937-D Three-legged variety has always moved higher and higher.  Purchase only from a reputable source... many fakes exist.

The Year This Coin Was Minted... By 1937, the threat of global war became increasingly ominous.  Adolf Hitler, the ruthless dictator of Nazi Germany, was becoming evermore aggressive, as was Italy's Benito Mussolini.  In July, the warlords of Japan invaded and occupied large portions of China.    Meanwhile, the bloody Spanish civil war entered its second year.   On the American home front, disillusionment, pacifism and isolationism, compounded by persistent economic woes, carried the day, despite President Franklin Roosevelt's best efforts to rally the public.  In December, Japanese planes bombed the US gunboat Panay while it patrolled China's Yangtze River.  Fearing a confrontation with Japan, a solid majority of Americans favored total US withdrawal from the Far East.   Other headlines from 1937 include the mysterious disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart on a Pacific flight.  Elsewhere, Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, Gone With the Wind.

Nazi rally in Nuremberg, Germany.  Throughout much of the 1930s, while the US was mired in the Great Depression, military dictatorships in Germany, Italy, and Japan were busy preparing for war.  Pacifism in the US and Great Britain helped enable the rise of the Axis powers, sowing the seeds for the most catastrophic conflict in human history. Public domain image.

©Copyright 2006 by us-coin-values.advisor.com. Coin Photo courtesy of Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA. Public domain historical image.

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