Can someone explain why this 1971 S Lincoln was in circulation ?

wam98

I've only found one 71 S in circulation and it was well worn and brown. I just don't find them here in the east. Then this one popped out of a roll from the bank. Looks like it came out of a mint set. Looks much better than my photo.

Russ

Circulation is where modern crap should be.

Russ, NCNE

ldhair

An old roll came out of the closet.
The wife handed me a red 68-s a while back.

Rampage

Wayne,

Congratulations on the fantastic find!!

1971 and 1972 mint sets can be bought for at or just a little over face value. So, I assume if there are not any nice coins in the set, then it is probably easier to just break them open and spend them rather than try to sell the set. That is my opinion anyway.

I recently (well, about a year ago) found a nice 1972 Washington that looked like it just came from a mint set, too.

CoastGuard

Well that is interesting! I like collecting so much that that would pick my interest and make me want to get all the Lincoln cents from the decade of the 1970's in BU. Just for fun. I can have fun with it. Don't have to have a $5,000 coin to enjoy.

cladking

It's not only mint set coins going into circulation but proof set coins also. It's only
the cull proofs but with the uncs there are a large percentage of most dates and
denominations that aren't worth selling. Many of the BU roll prices are very low and
even where they're a little higher you'll still need a whole roll to get the wholesale
prices. Not only do most mint sets that come on the market get destroyed but large
percentages of the coins go into circulation.

richbeat

Also, don't forget that 1971S cents were struck for circulation that year, as they were from 1968-1974. While it could very easily be a mint set cent, it could also be a cent struck for circulation that was pulled and saved for years before being released back into circulation.

LindeDad

Didn't some guy just cash in a million pennies a while back. Thought I read about it in Coin World. Hoards go back into circulation at the coin star locations now.

atarian

i got plenty of 68-74 S pennies. i figured S mint also made a few for general circ as well as mint and proof sets. am i wrong? i cant see this many being broken open since nothing after 75 is really ever found. i did get a 85S half while ago but that you can tell was a different type of coin. shiny finish

keets

1. bookmark this thread.
2. send it to PCGS so they can grade it MS__.
3. post a picture of it in the holder along with a link to the thread.
4. laugh when all the replies say they can't grade at PCGS because it's a circulated coin.

al h.