How long until Lincoln Memorial pennies start disappearing?

Amen.

 

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The biggest problem for the mint is congressional approval of any changes. They won't get rid of the cent because Jarden Metals is a big contributor to congressional campaigns - BTW they supply the zinc for the cents.

 

I search 5 rolls and only got 20 coppers, and two 1970 "S" pennies today!

 

Zincolns aren't as durable as bronze cents. Zincoln Memorial cents will disappear by becoming non-useful, while the earlier ones will be consciously removed from circulation for their metal content. When wheat cents were ended in 1958, a cent had buying power and people saw them as collectible. That is not the case today.

 

Memorials will be around for millennia, billions were made, they are scattered around the world and are in stashes by the ton. I willing to bet 99% of US homes and cars have a stash. As long as they're accepted as payment, people will use them.

The only rare ones that will ever be are those in gem+ grade - as the vast majority are MS63 and below.....even those found in mint sets. As attrition takes hold, it will be harder and harder to find those ultra high grade, well-struck examples.

 

I think this is accurate. Consider the humble Jefferson nickel. Except during WW2, its composition has been unaltered since 1938. How many pre-1960 nickels do we see in circulation? Not many. (How long do you think it would take to make a date set of Jefferson nickels without mass roll searching?) My guess is that 50 years is close to the useful lifespan of a coin in circulation, and that memorial cents will only disappear once a large number of them wear out.

 

Zincolns will disappear due to rot. I expect to see pre 82 memorial cents for a long time.

 

The first part is what I love about Jeffersons - I can find lots and lots of them from intensive roll searches. I have found each and every date and mintmark of the series, several '39-Ds and a couple of '50-Ds. Have even found early dates and mintmarks in BU. And you really really have to appreciate what the mints did ca. 1938-9 - those coins have held up in over 75+ years of circulation very very well.

 

Sure, they're out there, if you go through a ton of rolls. I don't deny that for a second. Even so, what's your ratio of pre-1960 to post-1960 coins? I'm willing to bet it's pretty small.

 

Amen to that. Occasionally I'll get a few penny rolls from the bank and remove all the pre-1982's. I also remove any freshly minted coins (which normally would only be pennies 1-2 years old). The rest go in the discard pile and what's interesting is that the discard pile of 1982-2012 coins is the ugliest pile. The pre-1982 pile is mostly coins from 60s and 70s and although they are understandably more toned than the 80s and 90s coins, the 80s and 90s coins are uglier....they are typically covered with smudges and stains and the dates are frequently well worn. Unlike most of the 70s coins where the date is still sharp even though the coin may be brown. The Zincolns do not seem to age well at all, and I'll bet there's going to be a day when it's harder to find an 80s pennies in excellent condition than it will be to find a 60s or 70s penny in that same condition.

 

I doubt 64 dated jeffs will ever be rare!

 

I usually find 20 or so pre-1960 but admittedly I don't bother with anything past 1951 unless it is an S mint. I average about 1 silver war nickel per box, Buffalos show up about 1 in every 3-4 boxes.

 

I pull the coppers out and throw em in a jar. The zincolns can all rot for all I care I lose interest in cents after they became their current size in 1857

 

My cutoff is 1982 1/2. And I'm not terribly interested in Memorials.

 

I own 3 lincolns a 09 vdb in 66 red a 43 in 67 and a 58 in pr 68 red. That's all I need for my type set

 

I spent a few everyday.

 

Something that @GDMSP had facilitated when he was younger.

 

I bet he remembers when chain cents were commonly found in change

 

I'd guess the FED will eventually do the right thing and withdraw the toxic little slugs for proper disposal. At that time the pennies will start disappearing pretty fast. There are so many of them people will be tossing them in the trash for decades as they turn up in the backs of drawers and under the old carpeting.

People won't go to the trouble of turning in their pennies so there will still be jars and buckets of them around for many years. But these are a consumable so their numbers will fall dramatically and very fast. In 50 years there will be only a couple billion surviving. Most of these will be junk. Zincolns that aren't properly stored will all be gone. MS-63's as BadThad says will still be common for every date.

Many dates will be elusive in Gem and top examples will be even scarcer than they are now.

 

The Fed won't withdraw the Zincolns. Once they finally decide to discontinue the cent they will disappear very quickly from circulation and if the Fed actively withdraws anything it will be the copper cents, not the zinc. Just like they selectively withdrew the silver coins in the 68 - 70 era. And if copper keeps falling they probably won't even do that.