Ready for any Lincoln cent opportunity

More and more of the new 2009 Lincoln cents are finding their way into collector hands. Part of the reason is perhaps the slowly working banking system is finally releasing a few more coins, but the other reason is probably that so many collectors across the country are watching for them.

I had a telephone call yesterday from Patricia Smith, a person who said she really did not consider herself a collector, but she reads Numismatic News and has kept, as she put it, what comes her way for over 50 years.

Yesterday she reported that four rolls of the new Lincoln cent had come her way. However, she had to work for them.

She was at a California retail establishment when she spotted some of the new coins in the till. As a former clerk herself, she asked the clerk nicely if she could buy some of the new cents. The clerk replied that she had no others but invited Ms. Smith to talk to the manager.

The manager was most agreeable. He had four rolls that he was willing to sell her.

This is where it gets interesting and creative. Ms. Smith says she always keeps four rolls of Lincoln cents with her for just these occasions.

She traded her rolls for the manager’s and both got what they wanted. The store had the same amount of change available to it and Ms. Smith had her nice new Lincolns.

She is now ready to start the hunt for the second Lincoln issue that will come in May.