New 2015 dimes and quarters sighted

New 2015-dated coins are spreading out across the country.

Readers have been sharing their experiences of first sightings in the last few weeks.

I received an email yesterday from Timothy Coltrin.

He writes, “Received a 2015 dime in change from a fast food place in Bartlett, Ill.”

On Monday, Bill Mills sent me his report.

He writes, “Received a 2015 Homestead, Nebraska quarter today (Feb. 16) at a local Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in Orlando, Fla.”

This is good news and my sweet tooth is urging me to make a run to the bakery, which I must resist.

The useful circulating denominations, cent through quarter, are now all released with the new dates according to sightings by readers.

I appreciate these reports.

It might seem old-fashioned to do this. It is. But it has been a part of collecting all of my life to look for new dates.

I know many others share this interest.

At least half of the collector audience is still actively searching change if recent online poll results are any guide.

We asked, “Is filling basic coin albums from change now a relic of a bygone age?” Fifty-one percent said it is not.

Some years are more important, or have more interesting results, than others.

In 2009 when every collector was anxious to receive the new Lincoln cent designs, many were frustrated by the lowest mintages in half a century. The cents of that year are still very scarce in change.

We can go further back to the beginnings of the state quarter program in 1999, or in my case, I can even remember my excitement at seeing my first 1965 clad quarter

Imagine that.

We were eating supper and my father mentioned that he had received one in change that day.

I interrupted my meal, ran up to my parents room and found the quarter on his dresser.

This is a great memory for me and it is indicative of the kind of excitement a simple coin can generate in the hearts and minds of collectors.

Not every coin can be a first-rate rarity, but every experience with a coin can be a first-rate experience.

Thanks to all for sharing the experiences of your first encounters with 2015-dated coins.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2014 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."