The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 5, January 30, 2005, Article 17

TIPPING POINT FOR COIN DISAPPEARANCE?

Last week I asked "... at what point do older coins
become so unusual that the general public starts actively
putting them aside? When they are about 25% of the
mix? 10%? My theory is that there must be some sort
of tipping point where hoarding starts. Thoughts, anyone?

Tom DeLorey writes: "Obviously the tipping point is 15%
....... But seriously, it may just be that the nickels before
1960 have naturally worn out from continued circulation,
as all coins used to do before the Treasury took the
radical step of changing the cent reverse in 1959 or
removing silver from the dime and quarter in 1965. I
find the thought depressing since I started collecting
coins around 1960, but that's the way life goes. There
sure were a lot of dateless Buffaloes around back in
1960."

Steve D'Ippolito writes: "Regarding Jefferson nickels from
1938-1961: I've been playing that game for about a decade.
I think I've filled about a third of the holes in my Whitman
folder from circulation. It now seems that every time I *do*
get a pre-1962 piece in circulation, it's a duplicate.
Sometimes in slightly better condition. I'll see one of
these coins about once every couple of months on average.
So they are definitely out there."

Jeff Starck writes: "I want to reply to the query about the
hoarding of pre-1960 Jefferson nickels.

>From October 1995 to Jan. 2004, I worked in retail as
a cashier, etc., while I was going through high school and
college. I always found pre-1960 nickels in circulation,
and probably found 40 or more war nickels (35% silver, etc.)
just in the last three years. In that time, I probably found
three dozen silver Washington quarter dollars, 30 or 40 silver
Roosevelt dimes, about that many "Buffalo" nickels (mostly
worn dates) and even some "Mercury" dimes and Liberty
nickels. Silver Kennedy halves popped up often enough;
I'd say I got two dozen. I even found two Indian Head cents,
1899 and 1904, in Good and Very Good condition,
respectively. I even found two Proof coins, just one day
apart!

As for paper money, not much was out there other than
worn silver certificates (though I did find a blue seal and
red seal note once).

As for hoarding of pre-1960s nickels, I set aside all that I
could find, unless they were spectacularly junky, and
amassed thousands of them in that time. I also pulled aside
all the "Wheat" cents I could find, and there were always
at least a hundred or more a year, sometimes 200+ in a year.

Anyway, it is out there, and most people I worked with
knew nothing about the coins I didn't tell them (and even
then, they didn't pay attention!). So, that would mean
there's still hope to find some old stuff!"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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