1972-d MS64 Lincoln in change today. How?

Weiss · July 10, 2004 5:44AM

Got a change about an hour ago at the Subway, and when giving it my usual 30+ year numis-glance® I noticed one of the blast red zinc cents had a particularly thick rim. I was then stunned to find that what I thought was a zinc cent was in fact a deep-dish struck and completely mark-free 1972-D. Seriously, the thing looks like a medal, it is so mark-free and strong. I checked up and down, inside and out for any sign of doubling, but nothing (except the tiniest little *umph* under the top part of the "2" under 10x).

Question is: What is the most likely reason for this 32-year-old gem to turn up in a change drawer at a Subway? Was it from an original roll? From a mint set? Part of a collection? Lost under a floorboard and returned to circulation just this morning?

Gonfunko · July 10, 2004 6:13AM

It was probably from a jar of cents put together for 30 years that just got rolled and spent. Maybe it's from that Million Cent hoard.....Sell it on eBay as that.....

fcloud · July 10, 2004 6:26AM

Maybe it is from the Million Cent Man. The he has saved for all those years will hit the market.

The other posibility is what I did about three years ago. I went through about 25 rolls of cents--cherry picked the rolls and dumped the rejects in a coinstar machine. I probably could have sold them, but too much hastle. Maybe someone else did the same.

steelheadbob · July 10, 2004 7:06AM

Most likely a kid had borrowed dads collection for beer money and got hungry and spent some of it for food.

Gonfunko · July 10, 2004 7:07AM

<< <i>a kid had borrowed dads collection for beer money >>

What sorta kid are we talking about here?

cladking · July 10, 2004 7:23AM

Dimes and quarters almost certainly come from mint sets, especially if they are choice and well struck.
Cents and nickels are more likely to be from rolls. There were lots of rolls being saved and they are
still being pulled out and checked for varieties and gems. It's typical to return lesser coins to circu-
lation. Generally this is the sort of coin that collectors are searching for though so it defies explanation
that a roll coin like this would be returned to circulation. For this reason the chances of it being a mint
set coin are increased a little. Many mint sets are destroyed haphazardly since they are so inexpensive.

It's highly improbable that it was a coin that just sat in a piigy bank for many years. Certainly there are
many cents which sit out of circulation but the odds of catching it while it's still unc and that the coin
is a near gem make it most unlikely to have come to you this way. Only a very few of the coins made
for circulation of this date were well struck and mark free.

This coin is actually one of the toughest of the Lincolns in a nice choice gem with a decent strike. The
pops are relatively high but finding true gems is tougher than the pops would indicate.

nwcs · July 10, 2004 8:43AM

I got a 1962 brilliant uncirculated cent in change last week. I think most of these are from rolls being cashed in or old change jars.

newsman · July 10, 2004 8:55AM

One word: Coinstar

comoncents · July 10, 2004 9:25AM

I find BU Lincolns almost every day, but I go through a LOT of rolls where I work. Usually 20 to 30 rolls a day. Lately a lot of GEM BU 1984's have been showing up. I suspect that someone in my area is searching for the DDO's and then spending or coinstaring them.

1972-d MS64 Lincoln in change today. How?

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