Pocket Change

Do you carry change in your pocket as a matter of habit? Do you like to have those coins jingle in your pants as you walk?



I read a post about the new buffalo nickel and how it might wear as compared to the old buffalo. This made me think about how I never carry coins anymore. What little change I do get through the course of the day gets tossed into the coin sorter. I just do not carry change. I do not like it weighing down my pants, or jingling as I walk.



I have been pulling out state quarters from circulation whenever I get them for 3 years now. Even the earliest releases are showing very little “wear” when I get them. Just today I got a Delaware quarter, and while the new mint luster is gone, there is very little obvious wear on the coin. One reason for this is of course the very low relief we are now making all our coins. But I believe another reason has to be is that people no longer carry change in pockets to get worn like they did 30 or 40 years ago. Our change has become just that, change back from bills, and not something that can be used to actually purchase anything. Coffee is no longer a dime a cup, but $1.75. So instead of carrying a couple of dimes, we carry a $5 and bust that up to purchase our refreshments.



So, do you carry change as a matter of habit?

 

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I have a 1891-O Morgan dollar with me almost always...if I forget then its at home.

Its in a grade lower than AG!!!

I still spend change but not too much...most of it goes in a large can (pot...jar...I don't know what to call it) and when I go on vacation I cash it all in.

Speedy

 

Yes, there is a great difference between the way coins are used now days and the way they were used in the early '80's and before. It really has been evolving for many years as inflation has eaten away at the value of the coins. In the '70's a nickel or quarter was not an insignificantly valued weight in the pocket or purse. It was useful for making small purchases like a pack of cigarettes or a can of pop. Th coins spent a lot of time in purses and pockets getting a nice even polishing all the time. When they slid it was usually across a counter when making a purchase. The coins in circulation mostly wore normally and would appear bright (even if ugly) after a short stint in circulation. When put into fed or bank storage they would darken up. Today few people carry many coins. Men usually don't "jingle" as they walk and the rarely even slide across counters since the trip tends to be from the bank, to the store, handed to the customer and back through the cointing machine at the bank. Coins often will spend weeks or months out of circulation in vending machines and change jars. In 1970 it would have taken about 10 or 11 years for all current year coins to wear enough to lose all their luster. By 1980 this was up to fifteen years and now it's probably close to twenty. (though it may appear faster as time goes by because of collectors removing better coin).

Today, coins are essentially beaten into lower grades. Their metal is sloughed of from bouncing through coin discriminators and counters. They are banged against others being rolled and transported. They often get caught in a loop transaction in casinos and the like where they are used over and over with almost no polishing sort of wear.

This is just one more of the things that make circulating coinage so fascinating. You can find coins that tell many stories like a nice evenly worn 1967 quarter in VF or a '66 issue in AU with todays more typical sort of wear. Every coin has a lot of stories to tell about why it was made and how it was used. More of these stories are readable with current coin.

 

All of my pocket change goes into my "Piggy" banks as soon as I get home each day. I save for a year or two and then I cash-in to help with vacation costs. Everything but Cents go into one large bank and all Statehood Quarters (since 1999) go into another. 2 years worth adds up to about $500. Haven't cashed in the state quarters yet, probably gonna wait till the series ends. Maybe I could sell the state quarters when I'm done as a newly discovered "unsearched" hoard (just like TV).

 

i keep all my change and cash the stuff i dont need to the bank

 

I carry some Wisconsin quarters that have extra cows in the field. Are those worth anything?

 

I have the habbit of carrying 4 walker halves in my pocket, i like the way silver coins jingle. And I set them on the nightstand when I go to bed.

 

I ALWAYS carry at least $3 in change. Anything over that amount (each day) goes into small jars to be rolled and deposited into my 3 year old savings account. Each time he reaches $1000 I withdrawal enough to buy him another gold coin. Doesn't hurt my wallet this way and I have made a deposit into his account every Friday morning since he was 3 years old (had to wait on the social security card)! The little guy also receives money (cash) from relatives on all the major holidays and this to goes into the same account. It is almost unbelievalbe what his coin collection is worth at the ripe old age of 3 and I intend to keep this up until he reaches adulthood or the day I die! Wish I could have done it with my first two kids but I was young, dumb and poor way back then so I have made the commitment to do this and thus far it IS working rather well and no matter what I ALWAYS have that $3 bucks worth of change should I need it! For what it is worth I also carry 2 Sacagawea's (2000) that were the first two I ever received (Walmart), a buffalo nickel, a guardian angel medallion and a Canadian nickel, plus two sets of car keys, and that is just my change pocket. You don't want to know what is in my other pocket!

 

Must clear up a slight boo-boo on the above post! I meant to say I have made a deposit every friday since my little guy was 3 MONTHS old! You wouldn't believe how well this has all worked out!

 

Wow, you get a whole lot more change than I do. It would take me years to gather up $1000 in change.

I have all the change I have from January 1 (with the exceptions of the state quarters) and so far I have $32.50 rolled. Again, I think it reflects our different habits in how we purchase things now. A great majority of my day to day items purchased are on a debit card. I don't have to show ID, they don't write down my DOB, SSN, or the name of my first born when I use it. My father on the other hand never uses a debit card, not part of his generation. He is the bill/coin carrier. Complete with money clip.

This has been educational reading the money items people carry with them. I wonder how many do NOT carry a cell phone. Bet that is a low low percentage!

 

Originally Posted by Rabone,

Quote;

I wonder how many do NOT carry a cell phone. Bet that is a low low percentage!

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I had a cell phone once, for about 3 weeks, about 15 years ago. I threw that damn thing as far as I could & never looked back!

 

I always have a pocket full of change for use in the machines at work. If it gets to be too much I thin it down to 4 of each denomination and the rest gets set asside for school breakfasts and the paper girl. I also carry a '76 Ike in my pocket that I dug up last May.

 

Yeah, but you're a mountain man kind of guy. I'm not at all surprised to hear you say you hated your cell phone.

 

I carry change but all of it is in airtites and I cant figure why they look at me so oddly when I try to spend it...grin..

Just kidding....

I am not one to carry much cash, but I always seem to have some sort of change in my pocket but nothing like a gold coin.

Paul

 

Things are different in England then.

Manyof us happily walk around with a fair bit of 'change', £1 coins, £2 coins. I prefer 5 £1 coins to a tatty £5 note anyday. And i'll happily accept 10 of them instead of a £10 note. £2 coins are acceptable and highly desired whatever the circumstances, love getting them in change.

I also walk around with two 17th century coins in my pocket also, for luck.

Oh and no i don't have a cell phone, never have and don't want one. (But i hate telephones anyhow and 9 calls out of 10 i generally don't answer the house phone either... my parents always complain bitterly at me for it too.)

 

well, I had a VERY VERY lucky Polish coin my friend gave me and in 5th grade I lost it on the swings , it was nothing special or rare just lucky

 

btw i dont carry cash, im to broke stupid taxes, lol just messing but i am broke

 

Well, now you know where to start hunting when you get a detector.