I managed to get out of there with 48 rolls of 2010 Lincolns. There must have been 1K to 1.5K people in line. I was number 47. I had lots of time to talk with other guys in line and some of them had attended the previous night's ceremony. I heard that Edmund Moy, Dir. U.S. Mint told attendees that the 2010 cents will easily be as rare as the 2009 dimes and nickel rolls were last year. The guy I talked with explained that the Mint produces the coins but the treasury is responsible for distribution according to Moy. He had no control over what made it into the banks. I had to go through the line 4 times with my son because they would only give out 6 rolls at a time. I may have to trade half of them for rolls with the D mint mark.
I'll probably hand some of them out to friends, the lady at the bank, and my boss. I'm going to try and trade some for D's also.
you likely saw me in line as well. I didn't make it into the ceremony, I was trapped in the hallway. Do you remember at the beginning of the ceremony when Elizabeth Wooley (WICS-TV Anchor and Master of Ceremonies) turned to the people in the hallway and said "I see you out there too!"? I waved at her above the heads in the crowd and she waved back at me and said "Hi". That was very cool and a moment I won't forget about the launch. It was so much fun. I did get to meet Director Moy and he signed my program. He was a very nice man who took time to talk to the collectors. Any stories from your end?
The biggest story for me was having my 13-year old along for the experience(and to buy coins of course). I'm sure it is a "minor piece of history" as Edmund Moy called it, at least in my son's eyes. I thought that he'd be bored out of his mind but he couldn't get enough of it. We also stopped out front and squished a few pennies for his elongated collection. How much did you come away with?
My friend was there, and just emailed me that he came home with 100 rolls. It sounds like you guys stood in line all day.
There was enough time for me to go through the line a 5th time but I just didn't see the need for another 12 rolls.
I would be happy with just one single, solitary coin. I can't imagine what I would do with that many rolls of the same thing! On the other hand, with the way Quality Control has been lately:hammer:, you may need to go through all 48 rolls before you find one without black spots or heavy scratches!
I was surprised that the end coins didn't show the usual "round zinc stripes" from the rolling machinery
No they didn't have any. I thought that they looked rather, "pristine" for lack of a better word. Did you run over to the Springfield post office afterwards and have them stamped? I thought about it but then the lines were so long and I don’t really intend to sell them anyway so why bother?
The crowd was about 95% plus old white guys who frequently spoke of selling the rolls on ebay. I think that many of them were collectors looking to make a few bucks off of this event. I saw a couple of people that were obviously dealers stocking up on inventory. I didn't mean to say that the numbers of coins produced by the Mint were small, I heard one estimate of over 2 billion coins, but finding them in circulation isn't going to be any easier than finding the 2009 dimes and nickels were last year. I still haven't found one in circulation. Pennies might be more available but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
That will be interesting to find out if we can get any in change. I am seeing tons of the 2009 Lincoln cents. I have two rolls of the 2009-P Dimes that my aunt got me from her bank. It is always nice having a bank insider!!:goofer:
WOW!! He sold 3 rolls at that price!! http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-Lincoln-Un...mQQptZCoins_US_Individual?hash=item5639a517ae