How Old Are Penny Jars?

Coinosaurus

I remember even in the 1960s my Dad was throwing all his pennies into a change bin. Is it possible that pennies have been irritating folks with excess change from the first day they were minted?

AUandAG

Probably not from the beginning. Once, a long long time ago, a cent was worth something. Remember
there were 1/2 cents too! In the beginning they had value and most were heavily spent which accounts
for so few UNC pieces available today.

bob
Oh, and I've had a change bucket, as I call it, for over 30 years. It does get emptied and spent on vacations,
every couple of years.

Edscoin

I would think back in the early Eighteen hundreds a penny was hard to come buy.

cladking

You can get an idea of how much coins have circulated by just looking at them. There are
differences in the way and rate coins wear now than in the past but these can be factored in.
Remember that large percentages of damaged and heavily worn coin remains in circulation
longer and are more likely to be destroyed at the end of their useful life.

The percentage of coins in constant circulation can be seen in the numbers that are avail-
able now in higher circulated grades. There are numerous reasons for coins not to circu-
late from collector intervention to use as backing for paper. The amount of circulation is
even more apparent since almost all wear is the result of the wear and tear of passing hand
to hand and rattling around in pockets. This is very constant for each date.

It appears to me that many people have always kept some loose change lying around but
this picked up dramatically after the war. The penny didn't lose so much value at that time
but it represented an increasingly small percentage of peoples' finances.

Note that the other denominations pile up in change jars as well. While these are turned
over frequently (unlike cents), they still represent real value even if not great. Cents started
becoming a burden in the late-'70's to a lot of people. A lot of people throw them away and
the mint makes another ten billion each year to replace them. The cost of this nonsense is
staggering but compared to the budget it's almost insignificant. If accountants weren't so
busy counting pennies they might see even less savory things.

tightbudget

They probably first started when inflation took off like a rocket...I'd say that they started around the Great Depression when people were hoarding money.
But nobody really has all pennies in a penny jar. I know my mom also has nickels, dimes, quarters, even the occasional half or dollar coin (god know where those come from).

Cgb

<< <i>You can get an idea of how much coins have circulated by just looking at them. There are
differences in the way and rate coins wear now than in the past but these can be factored in.
Remember that large percentages of damaged and heavily worn coin remains in circulation
longer and are more likely to be destroyed at the end of their useful life.

The percentage of coins in constant circulation can be seen in the numbers that are avail-
able now in higher circulated grades. There are numerous reasons for coins not to circu-
late from collector intervention to use as backing for paper. The amount of circulation is
even more apparent since almost all wear is the result of the wear and tear of passing hand
to hand and rattling around in pockets. This is very constant for each date.

It appears to me that many people have always kept some loose change lying around but
this picked up dramatically after the war. The penny didn't lose so much value at that time
but it represented an increasingly small percentage of peoples' finances.

Note that the other denominations pile up in change jars as well. While these are turned
over frequently (unlike cents), they still represent real value even if not great. Cents started
becoming a burden in the late-'70's to a lot of people. A lot of people throw them away and
the mint makes another ten billion each year to replace them. The cost of this nonsense is
staggering but compared to the budget it's almost insignificant. If accountants weren't so
busy counting pennies they might see even less savory things. >>



Well said.

I always enjoy reading your posts.

CaptHenway

I agree. Well said.
You see cents from the 30s in less than Fine condition, but not that many from the 40s. The stuff from the 50s is usually EF, and Memorials from 59 to 70 are usually AU.

ProofArtworkonCircs

I had a high school buddy, class of 1953, that always threw his pennies downn the nearest sewer back then. We both worked as cashiers at the A&P and he was the one that convinced me to never give a half dollar to a woman. They were apt to have a change purse that wouldn't hold them. We had a slot for $2 bills and not many $2 bills. $20 bills, which were a tad uncommon, we threw under the cash tray.
When I almost lost a $50 through a crack in the drawer, I started putting $20 in the $2 slot. Soon everybody was. Other stores in the chain put $5 there. We had a guy transfer in and he gave out $20 for $5. He gave me an earfull. I was a little surprised that he could trace it to me.