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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;cladking, post: 24882960, member: 68&quot;]The difference is simple.&nbsp; In the 1890&#039;s if you saw a ditch being dug there would be 9 men shoveling and one man laying out the course of the ditch, supervising, and attending to the specifics of the job.&nbsp; He&#039;d even jump down in the hole and lend a hand when he had the time.&nbsp; Now days if you see the same ditch being dug there will be a back hoe with an operator, a supervisor and nine men watching.&nbsp; If they get it done sooner they&#039;ll sit in the lunchroom the rest of the day.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the 1890&#039;s the men carried much of their wealth and almost all of the money they&#039;d need for the day in their pockets which would jingle as they worked.&nbsp; Physical labor was the primary cause of coin wear. Most people would be amazed to know how fast a coin wears in the pocket.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today there is very little physical work being done and instead of change jiggling in pockets it&#039;s credit cards in the wallet.</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins are used differently.&nbsp; A worn out 1883 nickel in a workmen&#039;s pocket might be used to buy breakfast and then change hands a few times in a single day.&nbsp; But now coins are used once to make change and then will sit in a change jars for weeks or months before being hauled off to the bank. Rather than being worn sliding across counters, being tossed into tills, and jiggling the coins are mostly worn by going through counting machines. The wear is different and much less destructive to the surface of the coin over the decades.&nbsp; The old clads are mostly still awful but the total amount of metal eroded away is lesser.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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