I know how you feel. Something like that 1964, I would end up putting it in a 2 x 2 knowing it will cost me more than the coin will ever be worth. I just can't bear just throwing one that nice back in circulation.
I still get a nice amount of Memorial cents in change. Now and again I'll buy a roll from a cash register. That's netted some nice circulated-AU coins here and there.
I get LM cents in change all the time, probably more than the shield design. I get a wheat maybe 2-3 times a year, but I usually pay with my card instead of with cash. Most of them are zinc.
You rarely see memorial cents? I see them all the time. With that said, I do see more and more shield cents. No surprise as the shield cents have now been in production over 5 years. We should continue to see a noticeable shift from memorial to shield cents as more shields get introduced into circulation and memorials get taken out (due to deterioration and hoarding). Pretty cool to think that memorial cents are now on their way to becoming the equivalent of todays wheat cents.
