The First 2010 Jefferson Nickels

The first of the 2010 Jefferson Nickels have now surfaced in the channels of circulation.

Circulation strike nickels and dimes have gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. This is due to the extremely low mintages compared to typical levels, which routinely had been in the hundreds of millions or billions. Also, nickels and dimes are currently the only circulating coins that are not offered directly by the United States Mint through their numismatic bags and rolls program. This means that there is no easy or ready source to obtain the coins for the average collector.

Anyone lucky enough to be able to obtain the newly minted nickels and dimes directly from a bank or depository institution has been able to sell them for big premiums above the face value.

Coin production figures through the end of May 2010, indicate that 29.28 million of the 2010-P Jefferson Nickels produced for circulation. This is still below last year's total production of 39.38 million. There have not been any 2010-D Jefferson Nickels produced yet. Last year's total was 46.8 million.