Expert: Ronald Fern - 6/22/2010

Question
Hello, I received two wooden nickels the size of business cards for Father's Day. One is Knoxville's 150th Anniversary issued on August, 1941, back shows Knoxville's Sesqui-Centennial Celebration, Aug 28, Sept 1. No.2203. Note shows a numeral 1 on opposite sides, figure of a buffalo on right top, figure of Indian on left bottom. The other wooden nickel is Raleigh County's Centennial Celebration on back 100th Anniversary dated August 28, 1958. Front is a picture of Sir Walter Raleigh, shows 5 on opposite corners, figure of Buffalo on right top, figure of Indian on left bottom corner. Has five wooden nickels and even has wood knots showing on both sides. Would appreciate if you have ever seen anything like this. I do collect currency from 1861 to modern sizes. Thanks in advance for your info. Sorry I don't have a way to show an image. Kunio Narasaki.

Answer
Hi Kunio:

Thanks for your question.

I've had a lot of wooden nickels in my collecting history. All were round or a flat rectangle. Many wooden nickels sell anywhere from ten to fifteen cents apiece to several dollars, depending on the number of pieces struck, the theme, condition, artwork, etc. Very few pieces bring over five dollars. I'm not familiar with either of yours. My best guess is that either of your pieces each could bring in the $8 to $12 range to an interested collector, in part because of the rectangle shape, date, and theme.

Of the over 250 recently completed listings on eBay for wooden nickels, the highest price the item sold for was $6.00, and that was for a 1938 Plymouth Indiana NW Territory Wooden Nickel Flat, likely similar to yours.

Some background/history of wooden nickels: They've been around since the early thirties.  Usually printed on 1 1/2 inch round blanks made of ash wood.  Ash becomes the logical choice because of its slight graininess and little resin (sap).  A lot of thin, square wooden notes or scrip were printed during the Thirties.  These often had an expiration date printed on the back.  If you failed to redeem the note by a certain time it became a worthless scrap of wood.  It's this interesting fact that led to the line, "don't take any wooden nickels".  For serious collectors, look for interesting advertising, artwork or early dated issues from municipalities.  Wooden nickels are one of the least expensive form of exonumia to collect and perfectly suited for the young collector just starting out.

Link for wooden nickels: http://www.wooden-nickel.net/ or http://www.wooden-nickel.com/

Link for over 400 active sales of wooden nickels on eBay: http://coins.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=wooden+nickels%26_sacat=11116%26_trksid=p...

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.