Had to post this one, because I want advice on this one too.
I just opened up my change purse, as I often do at the end of the day. And I found a 1940’s nickel!
I had been finding, and keeping, 1964 nickels (that’s when they still had a small silver content, wasn’t it?). But 1940. I wasn’t expecting that. And it’s in pretty good condition.
How did it get there? Anyone else noticing that? And more to the point: what is it worth?
Thank you for your helpful replies 
.
It’s probably only worth 5¢. In fine condition it might be worth 10¢. If it is in mint condition, and it’s not if it’s in your change purse, then it would be worth a remarkable $2.22, or even more depending on the Mint that minted that mint condition nickel.
Link
How did it get there? I would expect an interdimensional transfer if it’s not because somebody put it there.
Because the design of the U.S. nickel has been largely unchanged since the introduction of the “Jefferson nickel” in 1938, unless one is really paying attention (which most people don’t really do while handling coins), it’s pretty easy to not notice that you have an older coin.
In other words, “it got there” because you got it in change from some purchase, from someone else who didn’t notice it (or didn’t care).
As noted by others, a 1940 nickel is an oddity, but likely not particularly valuable.
Nope. It appears that, prior to 1942, and then from 1946 on, U.S. nickels have been 25% nickel, 75% copper. During WWII, the Mint used a different composition: 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese.
Quarters, on the other hand, did contain silver (90%, I think) up through 1964.
As a kid, I had one of those blue coin holders where I had a bunch of years of buffalo head nickels, none of them close to mint quality. I tucked it into some box or another, and decades later when I had kids, they found them and spent them. Which, in all honesty, wasn’t much of a loss, and I wasn’t particularly upset, but I did check to see that my Morgan dollars were OK….
Yep, anyone who’s ever watched Pawn Stars will know Rick’s oft repeated phrase “Just because something’s old doesn’t mean it’s valuable.”
Dimes, too. IIRC that’s why dimes are smaller than nickels, something that often confuses foreigners – it goes back to the days when the value of the metal content actually mattered. Pre-1964 dimes were made of a more valuable metal (silver), and therefore were worth twice as much as a nickel even though they were smaller.
Keep looking OP. I once found a double die dime that was worth close to a hundred bucks. Of course, then I started checking every coin I got in public until waiting until I got home which probably made folks think I was super cheap or something. It never happened again, but I always check my change nonetheless.
You never know!
I once found a 1914-D penny in a parking lot. Years later, I sold it on eBay for over $700.
I still have my childhood collection of Mercury dimes.
And who the hell uses a change purse?
Back in my coin collecting days, it was considered a “pay it forward” (I hate that phrase)-type gesture to drop an older, but common, coin back into circulation in the hopes that a youngster would come upon it.
I have no idea how common this practice was, but I know that collectors talked about doing it fairly regularly.
mmm
As noted in a link from a prior post, over 176 million 1940-P nickels were minted, about a fourth of that number from both the Denver and S.F. mints. So there are a lot of them still floating around.
I have found so-called “war nickels” (containing silver) in change, though not for many years. A typical such nickel in circulated condition would be worth what its silver content is worth - roughly $1.30 these days.
Some folks have made good money collecting valuable coins over the years, mainly those with silver content. But finding a single coin worth a lot of money is rare. The case below is very rare, don’t know if panache45 collected coins regularly or just got luck that once (noting he collected dimes once upon a time). But if you don’t ever look at the coins you’ll never find the valuable ones.
A friend of mine, sadly heard of his passing recently, had a coin processing business. He sold and repaired coin operated machines, coin counting machines, and provided counting services for his customers. Searching his coins he found plenty of silver, rare valuable coins, and also through a partner sold various coin sets. Pretty good gig.
I used to work at a bowling alley. We had a grill and arcade machines. Over about a week, I found several silver dimes and quarters in the till. It had to be from some kid raiding a coin collection at home. The most unexpected find was a 1923 series twenty dollar bill. I still have it. It’s not worth much over 20 dollars due to its well-circulated condition.
This is something I suspected when reading the OP
I got a 1917-S penny in change about 5 years ago. Took it to a coin dealer, he said it was in very fine condition and worth about $10. He offered me $15 for it, I decided to keep it. He put it in a coin holder and marked it as VF. I still have it. Just checked, it’s now worth about $15. If it was a double die error coin, it would be worth about $400.
Well, that’s a let down! LOL
What kid today is going to bother with nickels?
Finding a 1950-D nickel in change, especially in excellent condition (it’s the rarest of the Jefferson nickels) might make you wonder about whether it came from a collection, but so many 1940 nickels were minted that even today, some are undoubtedly still in circulation. One that’s in good shape might have been sitting in a drawer for a few decades until someone decided to spend it.
The most valuable coin I recall finding in change was a 1909 VDB penny, worth maybe $20 now.
I have a well worn series 1928 a $5 note worth little more then $5. I’m going to use it to show my grandson that just because something is old, doesn’t mean it’s valuable.
And he will look you in the eye and say “I know, grandpa, I know.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t share the following story with you (I’ve already shared it on Facebook).
My mother was born in 1927, so she apparently entered the workforce in the 1940’s (I’ll spare you the trouble of wondering about my age—she had me when she was forty 
). Anyway she was still finding Indian head pennies in change. Indian head pennies! She accumulated quite a stash of them too. Several plastic cylinders full, probably hundreds.
Anyway she kept them in the safety deposit box. And one day, we thought we’d check out their values. Out of hundreds and hundreds of pennies, one was worth a little something. I seem to recall like $15 or something. But was it even worth it? (My favorite one, was we’d check the value of a penny. And it was worth 1.1 cents. Are they joking?)
Yeah, the moral of the story is, stuff found in change usually isn’t worth that much. Probability, I suppose .