Oldest US coin still in normal circulation is the......

ambro51 · July 24, 2015 12:13AM

1939 P nickel. Always "thick on the ground" these ate still found in decent F-VF. Am I right with this? BTW got one a few days ago and it prompted this post. 76 u
Years old!

CaptHenway · July 24, 2015 12:19AM

Correct!

jayPem · July 24, 2015 12:29AM

I guessed J nickel....not the exact date, but it is actually quite cool finding these in a handful of change.
I even saw a non-collector get quite excited at the coffee shop awhile back when they found a 1930's nickel in their change

ProofArtworkonCircs · July 24, 2015 12:40AM

I have seen more old wheatbacks, such as 1910 since I have seen any nickels from the 30's in circulation.
Heck, I even got a 1903 Indian head cent in supermarket change since I received such an old nickel.

TopographicOceans · July 24, 2015 12:45AM

I assume there are Lincoln cents out there that are earlier.

I've never seen one in circulation, but I've never seen a 1939 nickel either.

TwoSides2aCoin · July 24, 2015 12:52AM

That's probably the oldest one (1939 nickel) , least looked for by collectors, in circulation Ambro. I almost NEVER look at nickels in circulation. After 2009, I gave up hope That little nickel from the Denver mint that year almost single handedly ruined my desire to collect any coins via banks or circulation.
The Silver American Eagle Proofs that year were just icing that wasn't on the cake, too.

Walkerguy21D · July 24, 2015 12:52AM

I vote J nickels, in general. Wheaties are usually spotted and pulled out pretty quickly, along with obsoletes, like buffalos and indian cents, and silver coins.
Yes, they can all be occasionally found, but pre-1960 Jeffs are routine. I filled a coffee can with them, before I quit saving them.

Overdate · July 24, 2015 1:05AM

When I began collecting in the 1960s, the answer would have been the 1878 Morgan dollar.

asheland · July 24, 2015 1:10AM

Nickels from the 40's and 50's I see from time to time...

Kaline6 · July 24, 2015 1:15AM

<< Correct! >>

+1

NumisOxide · July 24, 2015 1:33AM

<< Nickels from the 40's and 50's I see from time to time... >>

I usually get a few late 1940's nickels from time to time.

lkeigwin · July 24, 2015 2:06AM

<< 1939 P nickel. Always "thick on the ground" these ate still found in decent F-VF. Am I right with this? BTW got one a few days ago and it prompted this post. 76 u
Years old! >>

Absolutely. I see them too. And try to spend them.
Lance.

cladking · July 24, 2015 3:46AM

Wheat pennies come older however all wheat pennies have been pulled
out of circulation at least once since the early '70's. This is why they are
in the same condition today that they were 40 years ago.

At least a few 1939 nickels have never been pulled out of circulation by
collectors so have circulated continuously.

291fifth · July 24, 2015 3:48AM

Wheat cents from the mid-1930's still make some appearances. I received a 1935 in change last year (no better than VG). I also received a 1917 cent in change a few months ago (also VG).

ricko · July 24, 2015 4:02AM

I still find wheat cents in circulation on a regular basis (two so far this week)...and usually pre '30's...Cheers, RickO

BlindedByEgo · July 24, 2015 4:24AM

Agree, as your assertion is "normal circulation".

Back as a kid in the 60's, I'd pull the Warnicks out and scan for 38's and 50 D's.

The rest went back.

tightbudget · July 24, 2015 4:34AM

As everyone else has said, it's certainly still very possible to find wheat cents from the teens and twenties but I see way more 1939 nickels more than I see those.

oih82w8 · July 24, 2015 4:36AM

I can certainly agree with the Jefferson Nickel being the oldest coin still in circulation by our tills at the store.

kiyote · July 24, 2015 4:37AM

I'll never understand how that many Wheaties were pulled in such a short time. By the late 80s they were hard to find. Why did anyone care? We'd already been through design changes plenty of times by then.

Did Mercury dimes disappear by the mid 1950s?

WoodenJefferson · July 24, 2015 4:41AM

It may not be the oldest US coin commonly found in circulation, but there must be a bazillion 1965 quarters still floating around.

Note: Interesting as Coin Facts states there were 1,819,717,540 minted and placed into circulation. That's a heap of quarters!

johnny9434 · July 24, 2015 5:32AM

<< 

<< Nickels from the 40's and 50's I see from time to time... >>

I usually get a few late 1940's nickels from time to time. >>

same here more so then the 1950s

Cocoinut · July 24, 2015 5:40AM

<< I'll never understand how that many Wheaties were pulled in such a short time. By the late 80s they were hard to find. Why did anyone care? We'd already been through design changes plenty of times by then.

Did Mercury dimes disappear by the mid 1950s? >>

I was pulling Wheaties from circulation in the mid-1960's. I'd save any before 1940, and the later dates only if they were Fine or better. Mercuries (and Walking Liberty halves) were common until all silver coins began to be hoarded, but most of those found in the mid-'60's were from the 1940's, along with P mints from the '30's. If I found any before 1934, they were nearly always AG-VG.

Jim

PQueue · July 24, 2015 5:42AM

Without question, Lincoln cents like Ricko stated. I got a 1920 last month, G6 - VG8.

ebaybuyer · July 24, 2015 5:47AM

old jeffs are normally easy to spot, but I have found a few 38's that looked like they were just minted, so it pays to look at every piece, the 38-39's do look a lot like 58-59

swhuck · July 24, 2015 5:49AM

I'll second the '39-P. I virtually never find a Lincoln Cent from before the 1940s, and there aren't really any other candidates. For whatever reason, the '38 Jeffersons aren't anywhere near as common.

I got a dateless Buffalo in change about 10 years ago... does that count?

ProofArtworkonCircs · July 24, 2015 10:40AM

<<Did Mercury dimes disappear by the mid 1950s?>>

They were still around in Massachusetts as long as silver circulated. Walking Liberty halves were more common than Franklins. About 1960, one third of nickels were buffaloes and one third were war nicks. By 1964 buffaloes were still in circulation here but much fewer. I had reports that the y had disappeared in California by that time. By the way I was disappointed to get a FRB audiited bag of 999 BU 1878 S Morgan dollars and one beat up 1923 Peace in 1963.

MrHalfDime · July 24, 2015 10:52AM

Am I missing something here? What about the 1938 Jefferson Nickel? I have found more than a few of those in circulation over the years.

keyman64 · July 24, 2015 10:56AM

I am not sure what is meant by "normal circulation" but I did get an 1880s IHC in change at a gas station about two months ago.

keets · July 24, 2015 11:14AM

I think this question has two answers.

a Lincoln satisfies the question for probably the oldest circulation coin we will find, but if it is dis-allowed because of the change from Wheat reverse to Lincoln Memorial reverse than we must also eliminate the Nickel(and the Memorial Cent for that matter. they are a different design, the Cent with the Shield reverse and the Nickel with the new obverse.

for a continuous design oldest coin it would be the Roosevelt Dime.

lasvegasteddy · July 24, 2015 11:24AM

i still salt circulation with teen wheats and buffalo's with dates on them

halfhunter · July 24, 2015 11:42AM

<< I think this question has two answers.

a Lincoln satisfies the question for probably the oldest circulation coin we will find, but if it is dis-allowed because of the change from Wheat reverse to Lincoln Memorial reverse than we must also eliminate the Nickel(and the Memorial Cent for that matter. they are a different design, the Cent with the Shield reverse and the Nickel with the new obverse.

for a continuous design oldest coin it would be the Roosevelt Dime. >>

I think that the that the GW quarter (1932-2008) has been around a lil longer than the Roosie dime (1946-2015) . . . Of course they had to go and "spaghetti hair" ol'George

HH

Shamika · July 24, 2015 12:51PM

As for "normal circulation" you are correct.

GrumpyEd · July 24, 2015 4:58PM

I find more 38-39 Js than pre 1940 cents.

Like ebaybuyer said, those 3s look a lot like 5s unless people look close. That probably helps keep them from being noticed.

I spend them and put them back to work.

BUFFNIXX · August 5, 2015 9:21AM

I would think it possible but less likely to get a 1938 Jefferson nickel as opposed to the 1939 edition, and of course I could see getting a worn out wheat cent all the way back to 1909. Many would not even notice this.

Oldest US coin still in normal circulation is the......

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