I went to two banks near my work today (downtown DC) -- and between the two of them, only one had $1 rolls, and the guy in front of me got the last brinks one -- i got the last customer rolled one. 13 of the coins were Washington all 25 were P, no D's but here's the weird part, for me -- I never realized that the orientation of the date/mint marks were apparently random. That some were at "12 o'clock (i.e., above his head) and some weren't made sence to me. But: some facing "up", some facing "down" -- I never realized that before.
Yep. The edge lettering is applied randomly. There's really no other way for them to do it. (Edge lettering on Proof coins is applied by segmented collars during the striking process so the orientation is the same on all coins.) In DC I would expect to find mostly - if not all - Philly Mint coins instead of Denver Mint coins.
I live in New York State and the last 1000 dollar coins I've spent are from the Denver mint. they all come from the Mint's direct ship program. So they just send at random what is in stock. So living on the east coast doesn't mean that all the coins would be "P"s I bet some who have found these "D"s I've spent may have thought that these came all the way on the other side of the country - and the answer would be "Not really" Snowman
First, Pres dollars don't circulate so the banks don't like to keep them. If you want MS coins, then a Brinks (or whoever) roll is the way to go. If you want variety, then customer rolled is the way to go. Of all places I think DC would be the most likely place to have variety in customer rolls because of all the tourism. But they still don't circulate. The first response covered this quite well.
This is a pessimistic view (but also probably close to the truth). The Pres dollars you spent most likely went straight to the bank with little likelihood of seeing the light of day again.
Sholom, President dollars are easier to find in downtown DC, I can't say much about your banks. The Wachovia on G street near Metro Center and the Wachovia on 13th street near Franklin Square almost always have rolls of past issues and current ones. I picked up 3 rolls of Harrison at the BofA on Penn/14th stree near the White House on Friday. With the subway using them now, they circulate quite frequently. The street vedors are also using them now, I got 2 Adams and a Monroe from the hot dog vendor on New York Avenue. Good luck with your hunt.
That's interesting! One of the two I went to was Wachovia near Union Station. Thanks. I didn't realize Metro accepts them. If they do, then, yes, perhaps there is a chance of circulation between them and street vendors near the metro. I also tried my first order from the Mint ($250 for $250 no postage) . . . haven't received them yet. I get a kick out of reading stories of people trying to spend them. One well known blog (can't remember which) noted that cashiers in their 20's and 30's seemed to accept them more easily than those that were older. My wife always has interesting stories -- the last one she spent she taught a teenager about them. (And my wife has next to zero interest in this stuff -- but will always happily comply if I ask her to spend them! ) (My next social experiment is to give them as lunch money to my daughter, and ask her what reaction _she_ gets)
Right. Except, as you wrote: FWIW, I did find all of the first 8 Presidents in that first roll of 25 -- but, as I mentioned, 13 were Wash (which surprised me) and (as I wrote) all 25 were P's. Perhaps tourists from the west don't want to lug around extra metal! Another curious thing I noticed: the mint lists only the first seven presidents on its "Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Rolls" page. What's up with that?!
