Why Is One 2000 Nickel Worth More Than $20,000?

I remember when the 2000 Jefferson nickels first came out…

I was so excited to find the first coins with a “2” in front of the date, and I began looking for these coins from the “new millennium” literally from the morning of January 1, 2000.

I got a little head start with receiving some 2000 Lincoln pennies in Cheerios boxes during a special promotion near the start of the year. Today, these 2000 Cheerios pennies (and 2000 Cheerios Sacagawea “golden dollars“) are highly valuable and collectible!

But there’s just something different about finding the first new coins of the year in your pocket change… It’s like landing a trophy.

Are Nickels From The Year 2000 Worth Looking For?

As you may guess, due to the popularity and clamor for the new 2000-dated coins, I didn’t find any in circulation for a while.

I think it wasn’t until after Valentine’s Day that the first 2000 Lincoln pennies showed up in my loose change, followed by dimes and quarters and finally nickels. That’s not to say that was the order they were released into the public, but that’s the fashion in which I recall finding them.

The excitement around finding the new 2000 coins wasn’t something that was unique just to me. Many coin dealers and others who sold coins were advertising various kinds of coin sets featuring coinage from the year 2000. Oftentimes, these sets were paired with coins from 1900 or 1999 — to mark the passage of the previous century.

When it came to the 2000 nickels, there were many collectors lining up to buy mint sets and proof sets containing these and the other 2000-dated coins struck at the United States Mint.

While I did buy one of the 2000 state quarters proof sets, I chose to look for those 2000 pennies, nickels, and dimes in my spare change.

Today, it’s relatively easy to find the 2000 nickels in circulation, as many millions were made and fewer people today seem as interested in collecting nickels from that time. I guess the novelty of coins bearing the 2000 date has worn off…

Even still, U.S. nickels from the year 2000 are definitely worth looking for.

As you’re about to see, some trade for far more than their face value — and some are even worth as much as $20,000!

All 2000 Nickel Values Today

The Jefferson nickel was originally designed in 1938 by Felix Schlag, and the 2000-dated coin looks virtually identical to those first ones struck more than 60 years earlier.

Here’s how much all types of 2000 nickels are worth today…

2000-P Nickel Value

The 2000-P nickel carries the mint letter stamp (or mintmark) from the Philadelphia Mint, which struck 846,240,000 nickels that year.

Given the tremendous number of 2000-P nickels made, it’s easy to understand why worn or damaged examples aren’t worth anything over their face value of 5 cents.

This is a very common coin.

The valuable 2000-P nickels are the ones that are uncirculated and have no signs of wear or tear. Your best bet of finding these is to search rolls of nickels from the bank.

A nice, uncirculated 2000-P nickel can go for anywhere from 20 cents to 50 cents — which isn’t too bad if you can find a lot of them in coin rolls that you obtain from your bank for face value!

The most valuable 2000-P nickel was graded Mint State-66 Full Steps by Professional Coin Grading Service and sold for $2,530 in 2003.

2000-D Nickel Value

The Denver Mint produced 1,509,520,000 nickels in 2000 — that’s more than 1.5 billion (with a B!) Jefferson nickels with the 2000-D date and mintmark.

Because there were so many 2000-D nickels struck, these coins are considered extremely common. Thus, they don’t have any extra value if they’re worn from circulation.

As a result, the average 2000-D nickel you’re going to find in your spare change today is worth only its face value of 5 cents. You can go ahead and spend these nickels — there’s no need to save them just yet.

If you really want to try making some money with 2000 nickels, you’ve got to look for uncirculated specimens — the ones that don’t have any wear. An uncirculated 2000-D nickel is worth around 20 to 50 cents.

The most valuable 2000-D nickel was graded Mint State-67 Full Steps by Professional Coin Grading Service and sold for $1,898 in a 2004 auction.

2000-S Nickel Value

You’re probably not going to find too many 2000-S nickels in circulation — no matter how hard you look for them. That’s because 2000-S nickels were struck at the San Francisco Mint only for collectors, and they were sold in proof sets.

Only 4,047,993 of the 2000 nickels were made with the “S” mintmark.

While these coins are definitely much scarcer in terms of overall production numbers than 2000-P nickels and 2000-D nickels, they’re still readily available today and can be bought from coin dealers for around $2 or $3 apiece.

The most valuable 2000-S nickel was graded Proof-70 Deep Cameo by Professional Coin Grading Service and sold for $374 in a 2006 auction.

NOTE: While the 2000-S nickels were never intended to be released into circulation and spent as money, you can bet at least a few former collectors (and even non-collectors who happened upon these coins in proof sets) have removed some 2000-S nickels from their original packaging and spent them as regular money through the years. Therefore, there’s always the possibility that you could find a 2000-S nickel in circulation today! Technically, your best chance of finding one is to search through rolls of nickels.

A List Of 2000 Nickel Errors To Look For!

I’ve had the worst luck finding real error nickels in my pocket change.

Maybe you have, too… After all, there are plenty of strange-looking coins in circulation — like those that aren’t the usual color or that have some weird cuts in them. But that stuff is just post-mint damage.

True error coins are hard to find. (That’s why they’re considered rare and valuable.)

Fortunately for us collectors, there are still some treasures out there waiting to be found!

Here are some of the more outrageous 2000 nickel errors that have been found — and how much they sold for:

• 2000-P Two-Headed Nickel — This is one of the most bizarre nickel errors around. It was struck by two obverse dies — meaning that both sides of this coin have the obverse portrait of Thomas Jefferson on it! This absolutely ridiculous error coin sold for $20,520 in 2018. That’s right… this nickel is worth more than 410,000 times its face value!
• 2000-P Nickel Struck on 1978 Penny — How does something like this even happen? I have my speculations that this was more than an innocent mishap. A 1978 Lincoln penny somehow wound up on a Philadelphia nickel press in 2000, and this resulting piece was spat out. I’ll leave the rest of the likely story to your imagination — and suspicions. But this wicked insane 2000 error nickel sold for $12,075 in a 2008 auction. That is CRAZY!
• 2000-P Flipover Double-Struck Nickel — I hadn’t heard of this error coin until recently. It’s a nickel that was struck on a penny planchet that saw the design get struck twice, with the planchet flipping over between strikes. So, both the obverse and reverse designs appear on both sides of the coin! This piece is absolutely wild. It’s an exceptionally rare multi-error nickel that sold for $2,127.50 in 2010.

Do you have a 2000 nickel? Think there may be something unique about it? Post a picture of your coin in the comments below and I’ll try to help!