Occasionally an old Jefferson Nickel or Silver Dime, Quarter or even Half, or pre 1940 Lincoln Cent is found in circulation. The number of these types of finds that have been in circulation since they were made, or even for the past 5-10 years is ZERO. Although found in circulation, they have not been circulating for any great length of time. Every one of them entered circulation in the past few years from released hoards, or broken up (or stolen) collections. What I'm saying is that it's not a surprise to find an old coin in your change. And that's why most of these finds are in relatively good condition.
Last year I received a 1946 (if I remember correctly) wheat cent in change that was in high grade condition. It was still red too. That obviously leads one to believe that coin not only hasn't spent much time in circulation, but was also recently placed into circulation (before I saved her of course ). Within the last 6 months I also got a silver 1963-D quarter. That one had moderate wear. The 1948 nickel I got yesterday (see thread), was well worn. That leads me to believe it has spent plenty of time in circulation, but as pointed out, probably early in its life and not recently.
About 10 years ago, I opened some 1968-1981 Uncirculated Mint Sets for the half dollars. All of the Lincoln's were RD so I put them and the nickels, dimes and quarters in 2x2's. Maybe 50 years from now, if I'm still living, I'll release all of them into circulation. Chris
Got this one in change a couple weeks ago. Going to assume this one circulated early in it's life and got rolled up recently and turned in. Either way, not everyday you see a 1909-O barber in change Couple days later, got a 1944 Washington in change as well. Worn, but shiney And then yesterday..this Light wear on the cent, but the Washington spent some time circulating. Maybe it circulated recently as well as it seems pretty shiney. I've seen silver coins "brighten" up after some handling in your hands. Same with coppers. The barber quarter in change is interesting though. Not my oldest find though. I managed to snag an 1880 IHC out of a tip jar once (with compensation and permission first)
Although it is very uncommon to find silver quarters in change, some do slip through the cracks since the non-silver design was the same and is still commonly used in circulation today (1965-1998). The statehood and ATB quarters also have a very similar obverse. So the silver quarter doesn't stand out at first glance, especially to the majority of people whom are not collectors. Wheat obverses haven't changed from today (Lincoln portrait) so they don't stand out that much either as one would have to look at the reverse or date to realize it's uncommon. As for the Barber quarter, that one you can spot from a mile away.
Wheat pennies are common. The later dates are more common but prewar pennies are not unheard of. Indian head pennies are very rare. Pre-1960 nickels are very common. Buffalo and V nickels are rare but they're out there. Silver dimes are more common than you might think. Silver quarters are very rare.
Same applies to early Jefferson nickels. I frequently pick out 1938-1950's nickels from pocket change all the time. They tend to have a certain "look" when they are that old as looking a little duller and rounded over in features. usually from a glance at my change I can see what i'd presume is an older nickel and frequently is. I get 50's dated nickels once a week. 40's maybe once every couple months and a 1938 or 1939 maybe once a year. I've gotten a couple silver dimes in change, but I've gotten about a dozen or so silver Washington quarters in change...amazingly mostly 40's dates. Once I got 6 of them at one time. Got two in change, asked for change in quarters and got 4 more! Couldn't tell you the last time I got a buffalo nickel, merc dime or SLQ in change, but like you said, you can see those a mile away. But I sure did a happy dance when I saw a barber quarter in my hand after buying a coffee! PS: I do 99% of my commerce out in the world with cash just to simply increase my exposure to getting coins back in change. My friends ask me why I don't use cards, but getting a silver quarter in change is my exact reason why I stay cash only for the most part. Usually most of the time, i'm just pulling out wheat cents and pre1959 nickels out of change
Nice move on asking for change to get 4 more silver quarters. I've been doing the same by paying cash. I like looking thru my change. And like you said, it increases the chances of getting something worth keeping.
When I was in Middle School back in the early 70's I got a 1858 Flying Eagle cent in change from the school lunch room. It is currently lost somewhere in my house, but when the kids move out and I get a chance to really renovate I should be able to find it.
I got this in change last year. The guy who runs the store knows that I collect coins and when I bought something and he gave me the change, the Morgan was in the change.
My wife works at the local newspaper, and they were short handed in the circulation dept. today, so she helped them count over $3000 in change today. She brought home a 1945 quarter, a 1951-D dime, 1936 Lincoln, 1953-D Lincoln, (6) Chucky Cheese tokens, (2) different Parking tokens, and a car wash token. Pretty good haul for exchanging 37 cents. Usually there is some foreign coinage too, but not today. Typically they used to throw away any tokens and foreign items, so those are always freebies. Could be a good source of free stuff if those areas interest anyone. Become friends with a newspaper employee.
