Why is it so hard to find a 1960 Small Date cent in circulation?

tightbudget · November 23, 2008 8:12AM

One thing I have noticed out of years of roll searching is that I have never EVER found a 1960 Philadelphia small date cent. I've found quite a few Denvers, but never a Philly. Any reasons for this or is it just bad luck?

cladking · November 23, 2008 8:35AM

The mintage of the Phillys wasn't all that high and a high
percentage was set aside at the time. The Denver was so
common that they couldn't all be intercepted. It was pro-
bably close to 10% of the mintage.

The Philly still brings a premium especially in unc and higher
grades but the Denver small date might be the most common
coin in existence (in unc) if you exclude the coins of the last
three years still in FED storage.

GrumpyEd · November 23, 2008 8:40AM

Years ago the 60 small dates were selling for a fortune so most got picked out of circulation.

The D mints are different, you can still find them and you can find more small date D rolls than large date D rolls so there's no premium for D mints.

291fifth · November 23, 2008 9:09AM

The coin boom of the early 60's resulted in nearly all of them being pulled out of circulation very, very quickly. Many were also hoarded in unc. rolls. That coin was very well known in its day.

Overdate · November 23, 2008 9:39AM

I lived on the East Coast in the 1960's and went through rolls of cents frequently. My finds included a 1909 VDB, a few Indians, and numerous mintmarked coins of the 1910's and 1920's (no real keys, though).

I *never* found a 1960-P small date cent in circulation, although I found plenty of 1960-D. I never saw any circulated 1960-P small date cents advertised in coin publications either, although circulated rolls of 1960-D were plentiful.

Mintage estimates at the time were around 2 million for the 1960-P (plus another 100,000 or so proofs), and 65 million for the 1960-D. I don't know if the estimates have changed since that time. Surprisingly, 1960-D small date uncirculated rolls were popular during the 1963-64 roll boom, reaching about $22 per roll at one point (the equivalent of around $150 per roll today). Uncirculated rolls of 1960-P small dates, as I recall, peaked at around $500 per roll.

I think that virtually *all* of the 1960-P small date cents were scooped up by collectors and speculators before reaching circulation.

TheRegulator · November 23, 2008 11:14AM

Add me to the club of roll searchers who haven't found a 1960 small date. Some of the early Philly mints, like 1960 and 1962 are tough enough to find. And if you do find a 1960, it's a virtual guarantee that it's a large date. Still looking for a 1970-S small date, too. Some day...

leothelyon · November 23, 2008 11:41AM

I guess that I should feel good when I sought out a mint set with both P & D small dates.

Anyone know the mintage of those mint sets and today's value?

Leo

Overdate · November 23, 2008 1:03PM

I guess that I should feel good when I sought out a mint set with both P & D small dates.
Anyone know the mintage of those mint sets and today's value?

I didn't know there were any government-issued 1960 mint sets with the small date coins. I've never seen any for sale, and haven't seen them listed in any guide books or value lists. Do you have such a set in original government envelope and cellophane?

CaptHenway · November 23, 2008 2:41PM

I was collecting coins out of circulation back then also, and never found a P-mint small date in circulation. Or a 1955-S.

I remember that at the same time period a 1954 plain was considered to be a tough date, and now nobody cares.

TD

leothelyon · November 23, 2008 3:11PM

<< I guess that I should feel good when I sought out a mint set with both P & D small dates.
Anyone know the mintage of those mint sets and today's value?

I didn't know there were any government-issued 1960 mint sets with the small date coins. I've never seen any for sale, and haven't seen them listed in any guide books or value lists. Do you have such a set in original government envelope and cellophane? >>

Nah, I was just seeing if anyone was paying attention.

Leo

kranky · November 23, 2008 8:46PM

I found a handful of 60-P SD cents in the 1970's (they're in my old Whitman folders, so I must have found them in circulation). Don't remember finding any since then.

Spudmasher · November 23, 2008 10:06PM

I also in the early 60's went through over a 1/2 million cents in Arlington, Va. The 1960-D S.D. was pretty common. I found 10 rolls that I sold for $4.50 ea, and sent them off so that I could purchase a 14-D which I still have today. VG_F. I also managed to find a few 60-P's SD, but I think it was indicated that only about 2 million were minted.

Barberian · July 10, 2012 2:53PM

I probably searched through 100,000 cents back in the 60's and I never found a 60-P SD. I found at least a roll worth of 60-D SD. Looking at that roll prompted me to search for 60-D SD threads on the forum.

I found a 55-S in a roll my dad picked up while in California. 1954-P's turned up from time to time.

droopyd · July 11, 2012 2:38AM

<< I also in the early 60's went through over a 1/2 million cents in Arlington, Va. >>

Oh, so YOU'RE the reason I could never find anything good in circulation! Remember Latherow's on Lee Hwy?

jmski52 · July 11, 2012 2:44AM

I remember assembling almost a full roll of 1960-D Small Dates, but I never found a 1960-P Small Date in circulation.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 11, 2012 3:14AM

Perhaps ads liked this helped to wipe them from circulation ... $3750 or a new car for $50 face of 1960 small date Lincolns.

ProofArtworkonCircs · July 11, 2012 1:35PM

<<I was collecting coins out of circulation back then also, and never found a P-mint small date in circulation. Or a 1955-S.

I remember that at the same time period a 1954 plain was considered to be a tough date, and now nobody cares.

TD >>

I finally found a 1960 small date in circulation, but it was years after 1960.
The first unc rolls I set aside were 1952 cents in 1952. In 1953 I didn't find any. In 1954 unc rolls were available again, but they were mixed 1953 and 1954. Becauseof that, I didn't set any aside. 1955 were solid rolls again, but no doubled dies for me, although I was in the right Fed district. I was on the East Coast, so all these cents were Philadelphia mint.

RichieURich · July 11, 2012 2:02PM

<< I was collecting coins out of circulation back then also, and never found a P-mint small date in circulation. Or a 1955-S.

I remember that at the same time period a 1954 plain was considered to be a tough date, and now nobody cares.

TD >>

Ditto, same experience as Capt Henway.

Although some people must have found them, because I see circ 1960 Small Dates and 1955-S cents in the Whitman folders quite often.

tightbudget · July 11, 2012 2:08PM

Nearly 4 years after I've posted this, still no luck...

coolest · July 11, 2012 2:21PM

My first cion collecting life started in the late 60s.
I looked in many rolls for that coin and never found one. So I went to the coin shop down the on Ventura Blvd. and paid about $1.50 for an uncirculated example. I brought the coin back to the same dealer a few years later and asked him what it was worth when he explained to me that my coin was not a small date, but the mundane variety.

ambro51 · July 11, 2012 9:53PM

I found one about 2-3 years ago in change. About VF it blended in as an old Lincoln memorial cent should. At first glance I noticed the 1 and 9 were the same height, small date.

DrPete · July 11, 2012 10:55PM

It is interesting that three coins come to my mind that are higher profile, carry a premium over common date coins, yet are much more common in uncirculated condition than they are circulated. Others may come up with additional examples.

1. 1960 small date cent. Nearly all of these were saved immediately and sold as rolls. The 1960's saw huge numbers of collectors and roll collecting was really big.
2. 1950-D nickels. These were also recognized as low mintage and nearly all saved right after minting as rolls.
3. 1885-CC dollars. Very difficult to find in circulated condition. A huge percentage of the mintage ended up in vaults and did not circulate. They were found and distributed by the GSA when they did their big CC GSA sale about 40 years ago.

RichieURich · July 11, 2012 11:05PM

In addition to the 3 coins DrPete mentioned, the 1898-O and 1903-O Morgans are much more common in Unc. than in circ. grades. Reason is that these were included in the Unc. silver dollar bags sold by the Treasury in the 1960's.

ambro51 · July 11, 2012 11:26PM

You cannot forget the 1955 S cent, thought by young collectors of the era as an unobtainable key.

TJM965 · July 12, 2012 12:01AM

It would seem to me that the 1960 small date proof set should have a larger premium than $3 - $5 each. I believe they are a great buy
at today's price.

emzee · July 12, 2012 1:27AM

Back in the early 1960's I was about 10 y.o. I first began coin collecting by searching Lincoln cent rolls at the local banks. 1960 sd cents weren't uncommon in the midwest, where I lived. Dealers were paying $2.50/roll for circ coins, so accumulating these helped sponsor my collecting habit. That may explain how the 1960 sd cent got out of circulation.

Michael

MFH · July 12, 2012 3:18AM

Don't feel so bad, I've been looking for one since 1960,
and have never found a Small Date. As DrPete mentioned,
roll collecting was extremely popular back then.

Never found a 1950-D Nickel either.

droopyd · July 12, 2012 3:35AM

<< You cannot forget the 1955 S cent, thought by young collectors of the era as an unobtainable key. >>

I never did find one in circulation, wound up having to pay a quarter for one.

droopyd · July 12, 2012 3:36AM

<< It is interesting that three coins come to my mind that are higher profile, carry a premium over common date coins, yet are much more common in uncirculated condition than they are circulated....

1950-D nickels. These were also recognized as low mintage and nearly all saved right after minting as rolls. >>

I actually plucked a nice VF out of circulation in the 70s, still have it too!

Overdate · July 15, 2012 5:30AM

<< Perhaps ads liked this helped to wipe them from circulation ... $3750 or a new car for $50 face of 1960 small date Lincolns. >>

Four years later, the 1960-P small date peaked at about $400 per roll, or $40,000 per $50 face bag. That's around $300,000 in today's dollars!

cladking · July 15, 2012 6:11AM

Of course there's another big reason that you can't find these in circulation; attrition.

70% or more of all the sm dt '60 cents are already lost, destroyed, or tossed into Niagra
Falls for good luck. At any give time 75% of cents aren't even really circulating because
pennies no longer have any value except by the bucket full. The older the cent the more
likely it is to be sitting in a half full bucket waiting to get cashed in.

This means fewer than a quarter million of these in circulation hidden among 40 or 50 billion
pennies.

As copper gets selectively removed from circulation they'll get even tougher.

It's a little surprising so few are reporting finds. Perhaps they aren't quite as high mintage
as my assumption.

Ironically since this thread was first posted the '60-D sm dt is probably become more common
than either 2008 cent in Unc.

WingedLiberty1957 · July 15, 2012 8:55AM

<< 

It would seem to me that the 1960 small date proof set should have a larger premium than $3 - $5 each. I believe they are a great buy at today's price.

>>

Speaking of 1960 Small Date Proof Lincolns ...
One of the prettier toned examples ...

Overdate · July 15, 2012 10:21AM

<< 70% or more of all the sm dt '60 cents are already lost, destroyed, or tossed into Niagra Falls for good luck. >>

We'll never know for sure, but I think that upwards of 90% of the approximately 2 million 1960-P small date cents were captured by speculators before reaching circulation. In the early 1960's I was living on the East Coast and actively looking for examples from circulation. I found several of the Denver coins, which had somehow migrated from the Western U.S., but I never found a circulated 1960-P, never heard of anyone else finding one, and never saw any advertised in Coin World (although there were numerous ads for uncirculated singles and rolls).

By contrast, the 1950-D nickel was also heavily saved in bag quantities before reaching circulation, but circulated examples were readily available for around half the price of the BU's. Despite being on the East coast, I was able to find three 1950-D nickels in circulation in the early 1960's.

TJM965 · July 16, 2012 1:02AM

<< 

<< 

It would seem to me that the 1960 small date proof set should have a larger premium than $3 - $5 each. I believe they are a great buy at today's price.

>>

Speaking of 1960 Small Date Proof Lincolns ...
One of the prettier toned examples ...

>>

Wow! That one might have a premium of more than $5.

Cocoinut · July 16, 2012 9:39AM

I actively searched all of my family's pocket change in the 1960's, and even obtained rolls from the bank to search. I never found a 1960-P small date cent, but had 4 or 5 rolls of the Denver coins. I think that the majority of the '60-P SD cents were in hoards owned by collectors who acquired them prior to or during the BU roll boom/bust of 1963-64. It's likely that their heirs have no idea what they possess, so it's not inconceivable that some of those rolls may be spent at face value at some time in the future. I'm in agreement with those who believe the 1960 small date proof is undervalued, especially in CAM and DCAM.

Jim

Why is it so hard to find a 1960 Small Date cent in circulation?

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