Wooden Nickels: A Buyer's Guide
You might collect wooden nickels for their potential value and also trade them with other coin collectors as part of an enjoyable hobby. Knowing the basics of collecting wooden nickels can help jump-start your first collection. You can find a wide assortment of tuit nickels, promotional nickels, and mint-condition wooden nickels on eBay.
What types of wooden nickels are available?New and vintage wooden nickel and other coin items often have different themes. You can choose from a selection of mint, vintage, and contemporary pieces for your first set of wooden nickels. Below are some variations to look out for:
- Community or historical nickels: There are wooden nickel collectibles manufactured by different states or communities. Some wooden-nickel pieces are released in limited quantities to commemorate events, like a state or county fair, or to serve as souvenirs for visiting a public attraction.
- Round nickel tuit: This is a common wooden-nickel type that has been around for a long time. Tuits are often embossed with a witty statement or proverb.
- Promotional nickel: Some of the wooden nickel custom pieces feature the logo of a specific company and are used as an alternative business card. These coin pieces are also used to promote events. They may have a picture of a person of honor on the obverse side and information about the event on the back.
- Free pass: Some wooden nickel tokens are customized so that they can be used as a free pass for certain events. They can sometimes be used in lieu of payment for certain products or promotional items
While some of these wooden coin nickel pieces were issued in the 19th century, there are examples of wooden nickels as currency up to the early 20th century. There are mint-condition wooden nickel pieces which are sought after by many coin enthusiasts. For a time, these nickel items were issued during unstable economic times. In fact, wooden nickel coin pieces printed on thin pieces of wood were issued as currency during the Civil War and the Depression era. These nickels had the same value as certain coin currencies during both time periods.
What is a wooden nickel?A wooden nickel is an item that's often released as a promotional tool by a retailer, bank, or community organization. They are sometimes released as commemorative pieces and other times as a token. As a token, some of these nickel pieces can be traded for goods or services. Much like the commemorative silver or nickel pieces, they were also issued as souvenirs for certain events. You can find lots of vintage wooden nickels on eBay from all over the U.S.A. Check out the available sets of wooden tokens or buy the coins individually.
Content provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.