It's been done before but what the heck: what is OLDEST coin you have ever found in circulation?

TheLiberator

I found a 1918 Lincoln but I know some folks have found stuff much older.

(Hey, some of you were BORN in 1918!)

dbldie55

1887

TheLiberator

<< <i>1887 >>


What was it and how did you get it?

DJC

1902 Indian, in a roll of cents from the bank.

wam98

I've found two 1919 Lincoln cents in rolls from the bank. I guess you could say they were in circulation.

ziggy29

1910 Lincoln.

Danegeld

1919 cent in change from Burger King

dbldie55

1887, 1903, 1907 Indians, two 1909 Lincolns (the same day).

A few 1930's buffalo nickels for oldest nickel. I have found an entire Jefferson set in change (except the 1939-D). Still remember turning over a 1950 and seeing the little D on it.

TorinoCobra71

1919 Lincoln Cent

TorinoCobra71

CollectingsFun

Cents - 1914
Nickels - 1923
Dimes - 1941
Quarter - 1959
Halves - 1952

ms70

1913 Lincoln.

291fifth

An 1882 Shield nickel. A slick with only one star still visible. Thanks goodness for Nic-A Date! This was in 1962 or 1963. My grandmother found a VG 1856-O half dollar in change about the same time.

Note: Morgan Dollars don't count!!!!

morgannut2

I most be too old!!-- There were lots of 1878 and 1879 Morgans in circulation in Wyoming/Montana through the 1960 period.
I kept? 1879CC F-15 Morgan.

BillJones

1909 VDB Lincoln.

Back in the 1960s when I was kid, I found several of them in circulation. Other people found things like Indian cents, but I was never so lucky. One time a girl in my class in school had a 1908 Barber half dollar that her father had given her for lunch money. I traded her a modern half dollar for it, which was not really cheating her. It was 1959 and Barber half dollars in Good were only worth face value.

If you want to count going to bank and exchanging a paper dollar for a silver dollar, "from circulation," my oldest would be 1879 or so. You coud still do that in the early 1960s.

Longacre

Wheat cent from the 20's

LALASD4

Well, that depends on who you ask? Some of the people here could be a hundred years old. I know my father used to use gold coins and pulled them from circulation all the times.

lordmarcovan

1909 Lincoln (no VDB).

GaCoinGuy

1859 IHC in BU(BUTT UGLY) when I was 17, in change while working at Dominos. So corroded you could hardly read the date. Was able to ID it cause there was no shield on the back. Still have that poor critter around somewhere. I recently put some dateless Buffs and a well worn 19th century(188something) Liberty nickle in circulation via the coke machine at work. Maybe someone will get the bug when they find em.

tjkillian

Cents: 1906
Nickels: 1938
Dimes: 1942
Quarters: 1964
Half Dollars: 1967


Tom

EvilMCT

An 1895-O Barber Quarter back in the early 80's.

Ken

Craton

1917 Lincoln.

Nysoto

My Whitman albums collected entirely from circulation 1963-1966 have Lincolns back to 1910, Buffaloes back to 1919, mercs to 1917?

About five years ago I bought a Big Mac and got an 1918-s cent back in change.

MajorDuty

1909 non VDB

Hedger

Got a 1932 S quarter from a soda machine back in 1990.

13PacesEast

technically i didn't get it. i was with the wife and in her change back at the 7-11 was a dime dated 1831!
this was just last year even.
i got an 1882 Indian Head that is in pretty decent shape and it is toned to boot!
this too was just last year.

Vet

cent 1919
nickel 1939d
quarter 1958
half 1964
dollar 1971

Robgetty

1920's ish lincoln

construct

I found a 1901 cent in a roll from the bank about five years ago.

flaminio

Like many, a cent from the teens. Don't remember what year, but it wasn't a 14-D or anything like that.

Wait -- "found" in circulation? Does that includes coins I've personally spent? 'Cause then you'd have to go back to the mid 1800s and some busted up Indians.

mgoodm3

1919 cent

Artist

I found a 1914 Lincoln the other day - looked real hard but I just couldn't find a D on it.

I also recently came across a '52 dime.

*

Numismanic

1863 CWT

MrSpud

I received a 1868 Shield Nickel in change from a vending machine where I used to work about 4 years ago. It has a barely readable date.

09sVDB

1929 WLH in a bank roll.
Technically not circulation: 1907 Inian cent in my parents back yard in the 70's

zeus135

I found a 1938 nickel last year in vending change.

messydesk

1916 Lincoln.

Shamika

1915-D (or 1913-D) Buffalo nickel and a 1909 Lincoln.

billboat

Lately--a 1939 Jefferson--but when I was a kid in Panama I found a lot of Liberty Nickels and Barber coinage ( in the early 50's)--US coinage circulated there and stayed in the Canal zone for many years.

ColonialCoinUnion

1887 Indian Head Penny in change last year.

TommyType

An XF 1921 Canadian cent....
I'm not sure which is weirder:

- Age
- Canadian found in L.A. Area
- or that it survived in circulation with the KING of England on the obverse.

PerryHall

When I was much younger I would find 1910 cents on a regular basis. The occasional earlier indian cents etc that were found were probably some kid dipping into a parents accumilation of old coins.

RiotAct

Well, I didn't really start paying attention to my pocket change 'till about a year ago, but the oldest coin I've found in that year was a war nickel from 1942. It was pretty beat up.

majorbigtime

Back in the 50s & 60s, silver dolars were available (especially in Las Vegas) and 1878s were common. My oldest circ find was an type 1 (1858?) seated half dollar, worn to AG!

D

1896 IHC
1934 Merc
1921 Buffalo
1941S Washington Quarter

Found a few other IHCs and Mercs, but those are the oldest.

-Daniel

rmoss

Found a CWT in a roll of pennies I got at the bank to make change at a restaurant I managed back in '76. 1863 I think was the date. It would have graded at least XF to AU.

Merc

A 1907 Indian Head cent from Wendy's. It was a nice EF40 coin. It much have been sitting in someones penny jar for years.

SmallSizedGuy

Cent - 1890s (found 10 IHCs in a roll back in 1980)
Nickel - 1913 (Dateless - only because of the mound on the reverse I was able to identify as T1)
Dime - 1916 Mercury (Several)
Quarter - 1925 (Only SLQ I ever found with a portion of the date visible)
Half - 1917

ajaan

1859 Indian Cent at MediaPlay a couple years ago. Well, actually my stepson got it in change but I was there with him.

sumnom

1908 cent
1925-S nickel
1942 dime
1954-S quarter
1964 half
1976 dollar

Trime

Don't remember what is the oldest but many 19th century coins. The most valuable was a 1901-S Barber quarter.

SmallSizedGuy

Interesting observation...

By looking at the silver coins (dime, quarter, half), you can tell who was pulling coins from circulation in the 1960s or earlier (much earlier dates on the silver coins).