Im wondering (yet again)

atarian

i wonder the odds of getting a coin or bill in the wild.

take my 1934 seires $100.

they made 3 million bills from the Kansas City bank. the chances of hitting on one is what 1 : ???

and with coins what are the odds on hitting a 1930's coins ( when you do the math) with billions of pennies what are the odds

do we say odds of getting a 2002 penny 1:6,000,000 cause they make 3 or so million a year? or since there are soo many of each we can call it 1:5 , cause its like 2,000,000 : 6,000,000

with that said what is the odds of a 1935 wheat penny. or a 1858 penny or 1974 penny

think of the odds when you start adding up what is out there and the likely hood

mgoodm3

Firstly they make more like 6 billion cents. The odd of getting any one coin is one in 6 billion, but to just get a 2002 cent is pretty common. you have to know how many are in circulation against the total cents in circulation. Older coins are harder to figure because you don't know how many are in circulation. The odd of getting a wheat are prety good, seems like I have found about one per roll of cents. If you want a specific date then the odd go way down because most of the wheats you find will be late 50's.
you could estimate the number in circulation by taking a sample of cents (preferably large) and counting and see what number of the various dates are present. That's only an approximation, but it gets better the more cents you count. the chances of findong an 1858 cent in circualtion are slim to none, and you will get one a rite aid only if a young punk spends daddy's collection.

MacCoin

the odd of get an IHC is real freaking slim. a wheaty I see the every now and than. 2002 are pretty common I juxt check the change in my pocket and found 3 of them. but paper money like your hundred dollar bill the odds ain't good.

baccaruda

I've got (2) 1934 series $10 bills out of circulation - actually my old girlfriend pulled them when she was a teller, so that's cheating a little. Red seal $2s, $5s, Lots of silver certificates, a few common mercs, plenty of JFK silver and 40% silvers, silver washingtons, roosies. Never brought home a $100 bill though - and she had a nose for anything that stood out.

lordmarcovan

I don't know what the odds are, but I love the way you say "in the wild" instead of "out of circulation".

"In the wild" conjures up images of big game hunting, and I guess looking for goodies in circulation has that quality to it.

I might have to start using that terminology myself.