Circulation finds

cucamongacoin

Having been in retail for the past 30+ years, I have pulled tens of thousands of coins from circulation, from blank cent planchets to a lone seated half. Of the hundreds of 1939 nickels that I have turned over in search of a "D", none could satisfy that brief anticipation, until last week. I finally found one! While grading only about VF, and worth $2-$3, this has to be a great example of numismatic "noncrap"!

Vet

I got a 1939d back in change from the pop machine a couple month back .its cool finding those things.

rhedden

I found an XF 1939-D in 1991. Also 1939 doubled Monticello in VG.

kranky

Great find! (I can hardly believe the seated half, too!)

I've been looking at change for over 30 years and never found a 1939-D nickel.

bigtonydallas

A guy at my work had puled an 1856 FE from circulation when he was 7 years old in 1951! He says its about good and he still has it!

AJ2525

Lately I've been getting $10 worth of nickels to look through pretty much every week. Last week I found a 1935-D. It's pretty worn with purple crud all over it but the date is clear. The only two other buff I've found have been dateless.

There are quite a few Jeff I haven't found but I keep looking.

I wonder am I picking out coins someone else is tired of holding and put into circulation

or

do most "common" older coins come from grandpa's jug of change that his kids took straight to the bank or coinstar when he died?

ChuckC

I found a 43-P nickel in change today....I gave my friends a small lesson about it's peculiarities

Cam40

gotta wonder about some circ finds.
i found a liberty nickel in a roll that was mangled to the hilt
a few years ago.
guess its still legal tender but i havent tryed to spend it back yet.
could be a fun thing to do just to see what if any reaction you get
from the checker person.

cladking

<< <i>Lately I've been getting $10 worth of nickels to look through pretty much every week. Last week I found a 1935-D. It's pretty worn with purple crud all over it but the date is clear. The only two other buff I've found have been dateless.

There are quite a few Jeff I haven't found but I keep looking.

I wonder am I picking out coins someone else is tired of holding and put into circulation

or

do most "common" older coins come from grandpa's jug of change that his kids took straight to the bank or coinstar when he died? >>



The old coins passed on years and years ago. And you can prove it to yourself if you
want to spend the time looking. In fact since you're already looking just watch for the
following.

If grandpa had a normal mix of coins with a VG '35-D nickel in it then he "must" have also
had four or five '37 nickels and the normal selection when the '35-D circulated in VG in
about 1961. There would have been dozens of Unc and AU '61-D coins in the mixture
and other high grade coins of the era. These coins when reenterring circulation in a
bunch will tend to stay together for some time. Indeed a huge hoarde will "color" the
change in a region for some time. Learn to spot the coins that are anachronisms and you'll
soon see that hoards more than a few years old are very rare. The older they are the
easier they are to spot but you can go for a long time and not see any older than ten years.
The coins get dispersed rapidly so you have to catch them while they're still together, but
after spotting just a few of these you will be very dubious that there are enough old hoardes
enterring circulation to account for the huge numbers of old coins being discovered.
Most of the largest old hordes are coming from the federal reserve but none of these will
be more than four years old or so.

There are large numbers of hobbyists who spend such coins to interest the younger and
newer collectors. There's little doubt that virtually all of these finds are originating with
them.

ms70

Good find! Just last week I got a 44-P Wartime Jefferson in change in New Orleans at the French Market.