Slab-worthy coins that can be found in circulation?
jonathanb
Posts: 4,061 ✭✭✭✭✭
Following up on another recent thread... Does anyone have a list of coins that (a) legitimately could be found in circulation and (b) legitimately would be worth slabbing?
For (a), I know that it's theoretically possible to find a 1909-S VDB in circulation. I'm not interested in stuff like that. Yes, it's theoretically possible, but it isn't going to happen. For that matter, even finding a 1972 double die in circulation isn't going to happen at this point.
Let's also exclude ultra-high-grade examples of the latest releases. Someone has to find the highest grade examples of any new release. If you're going to try to play that game, you already have a list that you're looking for.
For (b), let's say in round numbers that it costs at least $50 to slab anything, including fees and membership and postage both ways.
So basically I'm looking for a list of regular-issue coinage produced in the last 50-ish years that would be worth at least $50 for a slabbed XF/AU example.
My guess is there might be a few dozen candidates. Probably not much more than that.
Start of list:
- 1976-D doubled die obverse Washington quarter
- 1983 doubled die reverse Lincoln cent
- 1984 doubled die obverse Lincoln cent
- 1992-D close AM Lincoln cent
- 1999 wide AM Lincoln cent
- 2000-P Cheerios dollar (borderline in terms of "legitimately could be found")
- 2000-P Wounded Eagle dollar
- 2004 High or low leaf Wisconsin quarters
- 2005-D Speared Bison Jefferson nickel
- 2007 elongated ray Washington dollar
(I'll update the list to summarize later posts)
Comments
I did find a 1984 DDO Lincoln Cent in circulation during the 2020 COVID lockdown when I lived in Massachusetts. It subsequently graded MS65RB by PCGS.
I'm skeptical that there are many MS65RB Lincoln cents from 1984 still in circulation, with or without a doubled die. But I've added it to the list. :-)
The 1995 double die is an example of something I wouldn't list. It's not worth $50 except in very high grades.
In July 2025 the highest graded 1992-D close AM was found by a coin hunter, I was on another forum with him through his journey.
I almost passed out when I saw it in his initial posting asking if it was a close AM and it turned out to the the coin graded MS67RD (solo top pop) that is now used as the Coin Facts picture https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1992-d-1c-close-am-rd/83101
He sold it and bought a used Tesla, he was just a part time penny hunter.
Is the 1982 No P dime slab worthy in lightly circulated grades?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
1969-S DDO cent or do you consider the odds to be too long?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
IMO coin collecting isn't dying (there's a separate thread on that topic), but the best way to collect has changed for sure. Back in the 50s and 60s there was a sufficient disparity in mint production (Philadelphia being common, Denver less so, and San Francisco least of all) that you could still hope to find semi-key dates in change. This video is a good example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcOjTzv5Jds
These days, even BU 60s clad quarters aren't that valuable, especially with all the inflation since their mintage, and you definitely won't find them in the wild. No modern key dates either, and double-dies went extinct years ago. Buying them is a necessity now unless you win the lottery.
This sale from April might lead to an unexcited “Yes.”
ction 132614 | Lot 23296 » Dimes » Roosevelt Dimes
1982 10C No P Mintmark, Strong Strike, FS-501 -- Cleaned -- ANACS Details. AU58 Details. (PCGS# 146347)
SERVICE
ANACS Details
GRADE
AU58
AUCTION ENDED
Apr 8, 2026
Auction Archives
Sold For: $89.00
And this one from May is the closest (other potentially) relevant result I saw:
Auction 132620 | Lot 25363 » Dimes » Roosevelt Dimes
1982 10C No P, FS-501, MS62 ANACS. (PCGS# 146347)
SERVICE
ANACS
GRADE
MS62
AUCTION ENDED
May 20, 2026
Auction Archives
Sold For: $94.00
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I typically would have been skeptical, too, except it happened to me. Every day when I come home, I drop my cents into a large tupperware container, and nickels, dimes, and quarters going into another container. I got bored during the lockdown, so I started searching my container (a large container) of cents. I decided to pull out the wheats, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1992, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, and a couple of other years. I figured I would search for the well known varieties and if I got lucky, a transitional from 1983. The only thing I found was the 1984 DDO. I was happy with that.
Now, how did it get into circulation? I have no idea, but it would not have been in that container if I did not get it in change from some store. Obviously, it did not continuously circulate for nearly 40 years. But, it is possible someone had bank wrapped rolls and dumped them into circulation without looking first.
Anyway, you do not have to add it to the list if you do not want to, but it was found.
I actually found a couple of those myself, and truly in circulation (not even in bank rolls). The catch is that I did that in 1982. PCGSCoinFacts says that it would be worth $100 if someone found one in AU, which is in line with the Heritage archives cited by @MFeld . But are they findable now? The disappeared pretty quickly, even by 1986 let alone 2026.
IIRC, these were worth about $100 in 1982. Not a great investment over 45 years!
Those odds are far too long. Heritage actually sold 4+ per year for a bunch of years in a row, and a whopping 10 in 2019 alone. Still, I wager that few / none of them were found in circulation, and even if a few were, they weren't found recently. I understand that these turn up from time to time in solid-date BU rolls. That's great, but not for this thread.
Try this: When @Rampage said that he found a 1984 DDO, I was impressed at the grade but I didn't doubt that he found one. If someone told me that they found a 1969-S DDO in circulation, my first response (first several responses) would be "No, you didn't".
I've added the 1984 DDO and the 1992-D close AM to the bulleted list in the first post (I don't know why the bullets aren't showing). It's still a very short list...
I might've missed it, but I didn't see the 1983 1C DDR listed.
Good point, added, thx
You might add the 250,000 2026 coin with the privy
Here's one you can add to your list that will meet your criteria.
I think this was a great idea for a thread (despite the fact that I don’t even check my change)!
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I'm intentionally excluding that for the moment, as a new release. It's certainly worthwhile if you can find one today. If you find one next year? Let see what happens with the pricing.
I've added the 2007 elongated ray to the list. It's probably worth finding. There haven't been many sales. I'm not sure if the prices will continue to hold up, but for now it's worth slabbing if you do find one.
I think there have only been 3 or 4 sold on GC. That's because they are very very rare! 🤣 😉
What about the Wisconsin quarters with the extra leaf?
And don't forget errors.
I got a box of nickels that turned out to be solid 2016P. I searched them anyway.
(I added the NGC slab and Zircon case later.
).
The last one that I know of was found in a small town in Arizona -- Wilcox in early 2025 in a roll of 1969-D cents by a guy roll hunting. It turned out to be a high MS grade. It seems like one pops up about every 3-5 years, but I imagine that most of from roll hunting not random cents.
That would be a rather rare situation imo.
1983 P FS 901 (spitting eagle)
I found this one in a bank box just a couple years ago. Although it has a counting wheel mark, it's still certainly slab-worthy in my opinion.
PCGS price guide is $40 in MS-63. I don't want to include things that are only worth slabbing in unusually high grades, and I certainly wouldn't count on finding a 40+ year old coin in unc grades in circulation.
I've added that one. The PCGS price guide lists it at $200 even in XF.
What about the Sac/quarter mule? Wasn't one of those allegedly found in circulation?
(a) allegedly, and (b) 20+ years ago. There's plenty of hype online. I'd like to avoid things that are theoretically possible but not worth thinking about in practice.
1972 Type 2 Ike in MS. Found one in 64 a couple years ago.
Coin Photography
That’s good. It is a clash that should not even be considered a variety. I did not know that the PCGS figure was so low, though.
2009-D District of Columbia Territorial Quarter. DDR
I don’t see many, but when I do ….. I’ll get them slabbed.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
How about the Minnesota X-tra tree quarter and the speared buffalo nickel ?
i have a few of the X-tra tree quarters
Hm. The PCGSCoinFacts prices drop off very very quickly, $1000 in MS-65 but only $50 in MS-62.
Heritage has only sold one, and that was in 2014. I see only one in the completed listings on eBay, and that one wasn't slabbed. I'd like to confirm the price guide. I just don't have info to look at.
It seems optimistic to find an MS-65 example in circulation, for a coin struck 17 years ago. How sure are you that one of these found in circulation in 2026 would actually cover the costs of slabbing?
Same comment for the Speared Bison -- the values drop off quickly. The price guide is about $70 in AU, so I guess it counts, and I'll add it to the list. It's borderline, though.
Price guide for the extra tree is only $50 in MS-65, so it definitely wouldn't count. We can't expect to find MS-65 examples in circulation more than 20 years later.
I sold my Speared Bison last summer for around $45 or $50 and it was low end unc MS62.
What about the Speared Eagle dollar?
So marginal for slabbing. I've already added it to the list, so I'll leave it for now. I might change my mind later (especially if other people have data about values)
The price guide lists that at $100 in AU, so it would qualify. Added, thanks.
The list is only up to 10 entries so far. That's fewer than I expected.