Old coins in circulation...

lsica · January 20, 2012 8:24PM

Kind of a continuation of another thread but starting a new one so I dont "hijack" that thread...

Today, unless a coin is an error or rare variety, a coin found in pocket change is probably not going to be very interesting to collectors unless its around 50 years old, and then only because of silver content. No rare dates since then, and not even any major series changes ...

But go back 50 years, and think of all the possibilities of different series and rare dates that occured in the 50 years before that...

ricko · January 20, 2012 11:59PM

It is easy for me to recall those times, when silver dimes, quarters and halves filled my pockets (I was a paper boy)... .. however, although I did salt away some coins, I had no knowledge of rarities, varieties or values. This was long before the internet (obviously) and no coin shops. Just collecting from change. Cheers, RickO

nwcoast · January 21, 2012 12:07AM

Yea... it was especially fun for this old guy when I'd stumble on those
winged liberty dimes (or mercury dimes as we called them) and the Buffalo's..
Good times....

Unknown · January 21, 2012 12:20AM

This content has been removed.

tahoe98 · January 21, 2012 5:24AM

...like ricko, i too was a paper boy and looked through my 'collect' money. i can remember pulling out standing liberty

quarters and walking halves and buffalo nickels and mercury dimes from time to time. it started my interest in coin

collecting, i must say. they sure were appealing and created my interest.

nwcoast · January 21, 2012 5:35AM

<< 

<< Yea... it was especially fun for this old guy when I'd stumble on those
winged liberty dimes (or mercury dimes as we called them) and the Buffalo's..
Good times.... >>

I still find them in boxes of coin. 1 Buff for every two boxes, on average, and one merc every $1k searched, on average. So they're rare, but out there.

Once in a blue moon you will hit paydirt and find a bunch altogether. Tougher with silver coins like Mercs, but I once pulled 19 out of a box. I've had three boxes of nickels that produced 15 or more Buffs, by contrast. >>

I LOVE the hunt!!
Boxes though???? What kind of boxes? Where might I find one?
I've recently taken to digging through rolls of cents and
have had some fun but not even a Wheatie to be found so far...
It's been profitable in that I've been finding quite a few dimes mixed in
accidentally.

BBN · January 21, 2012 5:58AM

It is funny, though, that 50 year old nickels and pennies are found almost daily in the change we get. Even the first clad coins are closing in on 50 yet they're everywhere.

OldEastside · January 21, 2012 6:20AM

I still find old stuff in circulation, but like most
of you, I LOOK, makes me wonder what varietys
yet to be discovered, that I'm throwing back,
other than that I find change searchin rewarding.

Steve

SaorAlba · January 21, 2012 6:21AM

As for the coin that has the most oldies in circulation it has to be the Jefferson - unchanged from 1938-2004. I regularly find lots of 1940s dated coins in box searches. I only find a buffalo in every two boxes. I have found 5 liberty V nickels though, earliest an 1890. I find more oldies in nickels than I do in cents.

cladking · January 21, 2012 6:22AM

<< Kind of a continuation of another thread but starting a new one so I dont "hijack" that thread...

Today, unless a coin is an error or rare variety, a coin found in pocket change is probably not going to be very interesting to collectors unless its around 50 years old, and then only because of silver content. No rare dates since then, and not even any major series changes ...

But go back 50 years, and think of all the possibilities of different series and rare dates that occured in the 50 years before that... >>

I thinkexactly the opposite is true and it's only perspective that makes it seem
no rare or old coins are in circulation. When I started in 1957 the earliest coins
were 1909 which was 48 years old. Most of the old coins like nickel and quarters
had their dates worn off. 1965 was 47 years ago and none of these have their
dates worn off. Plus there are cents in circulation going back to 1919 (93 years)
and nickels back to 1938 (74 years) so there's simply no question that the coins
in circulation actually are older now.

In 1957 it was a virtual impossibility to get a key date. These had all been gleaned
fromn circulation starting in about 1940 as the country was coming out of the de-
pression. There was no real chance of getting an '09-S VDB cent or even a '26-S
nickel. Among the dozens of collectors I knew the best find was a G- '32-S quar-
ter which was worth about $12 at the time. I found a '50-D nickel I sold for $25
in 1964 but, of course, it wasn't rare except in circulation. Most of the coins in poc-
ket change in those days had been searched many times by collectors and the
better grades and better dates were long since gone. The best buffalo I ever got
was a VF+ '37. But even if '37 buffs were a great find it would make no difference
because there were thousands of rolls that had been set aside. This coin was com-
mon in all higher grades because people saved them.

Today it is far different. People didn't save 1969 quarters or 1982 nickels. These
coins aren't only scarcer in Unc but also far scarcer in AU, XF, and even VF. In a few
years some of the clads will be tough even in F condition. The varieties were often
scarce the day they were made and nearly half a century of circulation hasn't made
them more common.

People simply didn't find valuable coins in ciorculation in the '50's. Yes, there were
scarce high grade and varieties but no one knew to save them and no one did. It
wasn't until1965 and people quit looking that valuable coinsa have been turning up
all over. All those coins I set aside in 1957 are worth little more now than they were
then but the coins a true collector saves from circulation now days will have a large
premium in another half a century.

These are the good ol' days.

Don't it always seem ta' go...

silverpop · January 21, 2012 6:46AM

i always check my change for old coins, my best find yet was a 1960d silver dime

JupitarCoins · January 21, 2012 8:19AM

I remember when I was 10 years old I found in my change a 1909s vdb cent in good condition or what I thought was good cond. back then. I always checked whatever change I got and this was in 1969. As the years progressed I found many a silver wash., franklin, kennedy halfs, roosie and many, many wheat cents(only 2 key dates). I stopped checking when my teenage years changed my hobbies(girls).
I still have many of the coins I found in circulation but not the 09 s vdb, one of my fathers friends at the time found out about my find and offered me $50 or more(not sure) for it and what do you think I did, yes i sold it and later regretted the sale as I have been collecting again for the last twenty something years. Doubt I'll ever find any key dates now but still appreciate the hunt!!

WaterSport · January 21, 2012 8:36AM

50 years ago, anyone could have 50-75% of a collection pulled from change. The ONLY coins I needed from the B&M shop was a few tough S mints and the usual raraities. So today, you could start at 1959 Cents and I think you would have a good set in due time.

WS

cladking · January 21, 2012 8:40AM

<< I remember when I was 10 years old I found in my change a 1909s vdb cent in good condition or what I thought was good cond. back then. I always checked whatever change I got and this was in 1969. As the years progressed I found many a silver wash., franklin, kennedy halfs, roosie and many, many wheat cents(only 2 key dates). I stopped checking when my teenage years changed my hobbies(girls).
I still have many of the coins I found in circulation but not the 09 s vdb, one of my fathers friends at the time found out about my find and offered me $50 or more(not sure) for it and what do you think I did, yes i sold it and later regretted the sale as I have been collecting again for the last twenty something years. Doubt I'll ever find any key dates now but still appreciate the hunt!! >>

Every single coin in circulation was checked an average of about 25 times by collectors
in the 1950's. They were probably checked about 10 times in the '40's. A study in 1940
found that more than 80% of the '09-S VDB's had already been removed at this early time.

Of course you could find one today but the odds are probably significantly better to find
one today than in 1969.

Coins do accidently get spent so I have no doubt about there being one in '69. Indeed,
the incidence of wheat cents in circulation is the same today as in '72. But there was no
calculatable odds of finding a scarcity since about the end of WW II because they had all
been removed and finds were dependent on people spending them accidently.

Q David Bowers found one in around 1954 which was likely among the very last that might
never had been found before. More likely it was accidental.

rec78 · January 21, 2012 4:25PM

I remember in the mid 1960's it seemed that every nickel was a either a war-nickel or a 1964 (the date 1964 was frozen on all coins-not just the silver ones). We searched a lot of nickel rolls but did not find much in the way of better dates-a few each of 1938-d, 1938-s,1939-d,1939-s but no 1950-D's--none-some buffalos but nothing worth more than a buck or two. Cents were a lot better for searching. Still in the 1958-1965 time period we did not find many Indian head cents-maybe 15 total and low grade late dates 1897-1909. I did find a 1857 flying eagle cent in a roll however in a nice vg/f condition.

We searched many rolls of all denomination coins and found all the common dates of mercury dimes-however, no keys or even semi-keys. Washington quarters-found all except the 1932-D & S. Walking liberty halves-most of the common dates but no keys or semi-keys 'cept for a 1917-d obv. -low grade.
This was still an era when silver coins dominated the landscape.

The government blamed coin collectors for a coin shortage and judging by all the Bu rolls from this era still available with little premium over face or bullion value-I now think they were right. I did not think so at the time.

As for today - Most likely halves 1971 and later. Quarters and dimes 1965 and newer - cents 1959 and newer. Again the greatest opportunity is still cents with all the varieties to search for. Nickels probably could be found all the way back to 1938 without too much trouble with the exception of silver war-nicks.

Bob

Barberian · January 21, 2012 7:36PM

Searching from 1963-1970, I was able to fill 2/3rds of the first Whitman album of cents (1909-1939), and several second albums (1940-1970's) from circulation. I was able to get the 1955-S's from some rolls my father brought back from San Francisco. Probably the best finds were early common dates in XF. No key or semi-key dates were found, which agrees with cladkings comments. I belonged to a coin club in Junior High school where we routinely checked through 3 bags of pennies every week. The best find anybody made after searching probably 60 bags of pennies was a 1922D. I don't recall anybody finding one of the semi-key S-mint cents from the 1910's or a 31S.

Buffalo nickels: probably about 2-3 dozen of the common dates back to 1918. Jefferson Nickels: all the nickels except 38D&S, 39D&S, and 50D.

Dimes: 2/3rds of the Mercuries (including a 1921 in G) and all of the silver Roosevelts except the 49S and 55's.

Washington Quarters: Two thirds of the first book, all of the second book except the 55. SLQ's would turn up but the dates were usually worn off.

SLH's: I filled about half of the second book but never found an early date. Franklins: about 2/3rds of the book, however I didn't look for halves as much as pennies, nickels, and dimes.

What that era was really good for was finding silver in change. One could make some decent money searching through quantities of rolls of dimes-halves, and particularly halves in the early 70's. I regret I didn't sink more effort into searching rolls of halves back then.

cladking · January 22, 2012 5:38AM

<< The government blamed coin collectors for a coin shortage and judging by all the Bu rolls from this era still available with little premium over face or bullion value-I now think they were right. I did not think so at the time. >>

No. Blaming collectors for the shortage was just plain wrong. I believe this is
proven by the fact that cent and nickel production plummeted after 1964. The
shortage was primarily caused by silver prices the mint itself in calling so much
attention to the increases beginning as early as 1962. The economy was boom-
ing but probably not nearly enough to justify the enormous mintages implying
that these coins were being soaked up by the general public. Certainly collectors
weren't setting aside hundreds of millions of 1964 quarters. Most of the activity
in collector markets was centered on cents and, to a lesser extent, on nickels.

Once clads started coming out in large numbers it was necessary only to mint
enough to replace silver being removed and keep up with a steadily growing ec-
onomy. Even clad production decreased in the second year (shortened) before
increasing again in the third due to rapidly accelerating silver prices. By the mid-
dle of 1968 even the FED had begun removing the last of the silver. '68 and '69
clad production was quite constrained suggesting little silver was removed.

Nickel production didn't approach 1964 levels again until 1999. Of course this can
be interpreted as meaning that collectors released large numbers of BU roll when
the market collapsed in 1965 and there's no doubt this phenomenon existed. But
while the percentage of holdings released was substantial there was no sudden
glut of old BU coins in circulation in 1965 suggesting these accounted for a small
percentage of mintage.

<< 
As for today - Most likely halves 1971 and later. Quarters and dimes 1965 and newer - cents 1959 and newer. Again the greatest opportunity is still cents with all the varieties to search for. Nickels probably could be found all the way back to 1938 without too much trouble with the exception of silver war-nicks.
>>

All the modern coins have been almost wholly ignored by collectors. The government
and mint took great pains to discourage coin collecting by enacting two separate
date freezes, discontinuation of proof and mint sets, discontinuation of mint marks,
removal of silver from the coinage, and even the threat to outlaw coin collecting (the
Bible bill). Most folders and albums simply ended at 1964. Until 1999 almost no ad-
vertising for coins minted after 1964 existed. In 1996 PCGS refused to have any reg-
istry sets of moderns and NGC had mostly quit grading post-'64 coinage.

Believe it or not until the mid-'90's even Madison Avenue invariably used pre-65 coin-
age when depicting coins in the popular culture. It was almost as though the entire
country believed coins stopped being made in 1965.

There are significant numbers of all dates of cents in existence. In a few cases these
are almost universally poor examples or most are corroded now but at least a million
of each '65 to date cents survive. Nickels survival is spottier. But people didn't save
clad.

Elcontador · January 22, 2012 6:55AM

I started collecting when I received a 32 S quarter in change at a movie theater that would grade in the F 12 - F 15 range today, in 1963. I then started paying attention to change.

Cladking is right. The only other somewhat scarce coin I found was a 24 S Buff in what today would be F 15 - F 20. The really scarce coins were already pulled from circulation. I did find the occasional beat up Barber coin, Liberty Nickel and IHC. I was able to fill most of my Whitman albums with Lincolns, Buffs and Mercs.

Any scarce or semi-scarce S mint Lincoln I had to purchase. Ditto re scarce Buffs. Almost all SLQs that I found were dateless. Walkers from the 40s were plentiful, but not much before then.

Back then, it was neat finding a 50 + year old coin in circulation, because it was often a coin which wasn't minted any longer. But now, the only coins I find that old are all cents (and rarely do I even find a Wheatie these days) and nickels. I haven't seen a silver dime, quarter or half in change in over 10 years.

droopyd · January 23, 2012 10:29AM

Back in the Depression years, it was common to see Barber and even some Seated coinage in circulation.

Or so I'm told.

ziggy29 · January 23, 2012 11:31AM

<< Back in the Depression years, it was common to see Barber and even some Seated coinage in circulation.

Or so I'm told. >>

My dad was stationed in Puerto Rico in the Air Force in the early 1960s. Seated was pretty rare, but Barbers, V nickels and IHCs were seen with some regularity if not terribly common. Buffs, Mercs, early wheaties and Walkers circulated fairly regularly. Dad completed most of some of these collections into a Whitman album just from circulation. He found all of the 1921-PDS Walkers there -- just from change.

BBN · January 23, 2012 10:27PM

Will memorial cents thin out from circulation in about 25-30 years the same way wheaties did by the 80s?

Davideo · January 23, 2012 11:10PM

<< Will memorial cents thin out from circulation in about 25-30 years the same way wheaties did by the 80s? >>

Strange to think about, but good point. I would think yes - particularly pre-82 copper.

ModernCoin · January 23, 2012 11:34PM

<< 

<< Will memorial cents thin out from circulation in about 25-30 years the same way wheaties did by the 80s? >>

Strange to think about, but good point. I would think yes - particularly pre-82 copper. >>

Pre-82's are going to be long gone before 25 years from now IMO. The Ryedale army is going to make sure of that

... On a related note I'll share my cool find from the weekend. I received a steal '43 steelie in my change at the corner store

. The odd thing is that I was buying something so the clerk would have to open his drawer and give me change as I was headed to a theme park and needed quarters and pennies for the penny smashers. I thought long and hard about smashing it, but the corrosion on it is kind of cool looking and once smashed it would have looked awful so I kept it.

Davideo · January 24, 2012 12:04AM

<< << Ryedale army >> >>

Haha, I like it. Though agreed that it probably won't take 25 years to thin out the copper.

Old coins in circulation...

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