# 1964 Nickles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673 "2001-08-09T21:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/1 "2001-08-09T21:28:14Z")
Is it just me, or is there an enormous number of 1964 5-cent pieces still in circulation? I noticed this a few years back, and once raided the change jar for an informal study. Out of 20 nickles, 8 were of the year 1964, and this was in the year 1997. Was there a large shipment found in a warehouse or something? ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/2 "2001-08-09T22:36:26Z")
Take a look at this link. It shows how many nickels are printed in each year. It clearly shows that 1964 was some sort of “Let’s Make a Boatload of Nickels” year: more nickels were produced that year than any other. Maybe they were running out? Because they didn’t have to make anywhere near as much again until 1999… Anyone got the skinny on why so many in 1964? > **[PCGS CoinFacts: Your Digital Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins](https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts)** > > CoinFacts is an in-depth online encyclopedia of United States coins. As the most comprehensive database for U.S. coins on the internet, PCGS CoinFacts is a collector’s leading educational resource for buying, selling, and collecting coins. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/3 "2001-08-10T00:05:28Z")
From [http://www.coinsite.com/content/cdanswers/cdarchive6.html](http://www.coinsite.com/content/cdanswers/cdarchive6.html) > [@](#): > > The year 1964 was the last year of silver coin production. Silver was rising in price and many people hoarded silver coins hoping they would be worth more than their face value. They were right but many erroneously thought that nickels contained silver too and hoarded them along with dimes, quarters and half-dollars. > > The mint was given permission by Congress (act of 9/3/1964) to strike nickels in 1965 with the 1964 date to help alleviate the coin shortage that had developed, so the reason for the huge mintage. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/4 "2001-08-10T00:49:36Z")
Makes sense, **yabob** , but why the heck did they strike coins in 65 with the 64 date? Why not just make a big old pile of 1965? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2001, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/5 "2001-08-10T00:57:49Z")
Two reasons. They had just closed the Denver Mint. So they _really,really_ needed to keep making small change as fast as possible. And it would have taken time to make those new 1965 dies. So, while gearing up for the 1965 coins, they truly had to keep on striking coins night and day. ---
**Author:** ![MrDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@MrDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDeath)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1964-nickles/75673/6 "2001-08-11T08:22:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\*Two reasons. They had just closed the Denver Mint. So they _really,really_ needed to keep making small change as fast as possible. And it would have taken time to make those new 1965 dies. So, while gearing up for the 1965 coins, they truly had to keep on striking coins night and day. \*\* Nobody ever closed the Denver Mint; [it’s still running today](http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/index.cfm?action=denver). In fact, turn those 1964 nickels over, and chances are some of them will have a little D off to the right of Monticello. What they did in 1965 was to remove the “D” mint mark from coins struck in Denver, because someone convinced Congress that the coin shortage was being caused by coin collectors. It wasn’t; it was really caused by silver speculators. D and S mint marks were re-introduced in 1968 (and moved them to the obverse); some time in the '70s they started adding P mint marks to the Philadelphia mint coins, except the cent. **yabob** has the correct answer.