Comments on: US Mint Coin Production in May; Franklin D. Roosevelt $1 Mintages

By: Munzen

Munzen — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 01:31:40 +0000

Another reason that older dimes and quarters haven’t worn out is simply that cupronickel is a lot more durable than coin silver. I was a kid (and budding collector) when silver production ended, and even then the Mint was forecasting that clad coins would have a much longer lifespan. I’m only now starting to see a level of wear, mostly on ’65-’70 dates, that would have been common on silver coins after just a couple of decades.

By: Joe A.

Joe A. — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 12:26:44 +0000

The charts provide information that can be useful in what to collect & are easy to read. Thanks for this chart & for the charts that you will make available in the future. THANKS, Joe R. Alvarado

By: Vachon

Vachon — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:04:27 +0000

The standard thing I read about cents is that they have a nearly 100% attrition rate. Most cents are used only once (to make change) and then simply tossed aside in jars for weeks or months at a time before being cashed in for paper money. I’m thinking this has been the case for some time because you never see well-worn Memorial cents despite the oft-cited statistic that coins have a circulating lifetime of about 40 years.

Honestly I think all our denominations suffer from this now which is why even the old quarters from the late 1960s and early 1970s haven’t worn out yet. A consequence of this would be that it would take even longer for the new ATB quarters to get to you since the time between a coin being spent and subsequently respent has increased.

Perhaps it’s a consequence of our money’s loss of purchasing power. Coins are just not worth the effort of spending so they just sit around until their aggregate value is worth doing something about. I would imagine if dimes and quarters were worth like $2 and $5 respectively, people would make the effort to circulate them.

By: Boz

Boz — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 16:40:36 +0000

That makes sense I guess. I see way more nasty looking 65’s than I do ATB quarters, pretty remarkable since they are almost 50 years old. When you think about it, the mint had to replace the entire national quarter inventory back then.

As we go to more of a cashless economy, one has to contemplate whether even 100 million will seem staggeringly high for future circulatingcoin mintages.

Where do all of thebillions of pennies go, China for conversion into fake Rolex watches and knockoff Morgan dollar planchets?

By: Vachon

Vachon — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 14:17:04 +0000

It’s not the ATB quarters are being withheld or even hoarded, there just aren’t that many of them compared to the total production of clad quarters. Over the entire mintage of the 2010-2013 quarters makes up only 3.7% of the total production from 1965 to present (about 73 billion quarters). That means only about 1 in 27 quarters will be ATB designs and 2013 is almost 2% of that 3.7% total.

ATB designs to date have not even exceeded the first year’s mintage of State Quarters. Working as a cashier, I’ve seen all the designs (though not all the mint varieties), including the 2009 ones. They too had a severe drop in production. Quarters from 2009 to present appear infrequently, but they appear enough to show they are out there.

By: Boz

Boz — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 13:47:35 +0000

We have gotten one Olympic and one Chickasaw so far in change this year. Looks like the Shenandoah D will be the new throwaway for the series. All others are apparently being hoarded or never released yet by the fed.

Still no Utah D in circulation of the statehoods. And none of the territories from 09. Once again either still in the vaults or being picked out for the grandkids whitman folders.