Letters to the Editor (Mar. 20, 2018)

Silver halves in rolls still out there for finding

Just want to let your readers know that silver can still be found in half dollar rolls if you can find them.

I ask at my bank every time I’m there, and the answer is no most of the time. But last week they had three rolls. Brought them home and found a Franklin half 1958-D, four 40 percent Kennedys, six Bicentennials.

Not bad for face value. Also found in change today two cents dated 2018. No “P,” folks.

Jim Johnson
Shelby, N.C.

(Image courtesy www.surfcoins.com)

2018 coins from Denver show up in New Jersey

Got my first 2018-D coins today. As a longtime collector (50-plus years), I cannot understand it. Here in New Jersey we usually do not see the new coins ’til March/April and never anything but “P” mintmarks! Perhaps someone from out West passed through here and spent them?

John Deroma
Great Meadows, N.J.

No ‘P’ mintmark on 2018 Philly-produced cents

I received two 2018 Philadelphia cents in change on Feb. 22. These did not have a “P” mintmark like last year’s cents had. Did the Mint revert to omitting the Philadelphia mintmark on cents this year?

Name withheld
Douglasville, Ga.

Editor’s note: You are right. The “P” mintmark was a one-year thing.

Questions for readers include $25 note, nickname

Here are a couple of suggestions for online questions:

1. Would you like to see a $25 bill with Harriet Tubman?

2. We need a name for the $50 bill. What should it be? We have single, deuce, fin, sawbuck, double sawbuck and a “C” note.

Wayne Pearson
Union City, Ind.

No luck in 2017 coins for Milwaukee collector

Never mind finding the new 2018 coins, I still have not seen any new 2017 coins. They used to show up in October or November here in Milwaukee and always from the Denver mint. I cannot remember when I last found a new Philadelphia coin in circulation here.

I suspect there is so much coinage recirculating through the Chicago Reserve that ordering new coinage is unnecessary in the Midwest, and any new coins found are carried in from elsewhere.

Robert Bellin
Milwaukee, Wis.

Alabama collector lands on 2018-D cent

I got my first cent in Foley, Ala.! Never expected that.

The first 2017-P in my area was September. Anyway no 2018 in yet. 2018-D has surfaced.

Dennis Onks
Foley, Ala.

Change searches turn up interesting finds

While downloading $20 in change tonight at the laundromat, I was surprised to find a 2018 Painted Rocks quarter while obsessively checking for silver. Also got a 1953-D wheat penny and a 1964 nickel in other transactions today, a fun change day.

James Hildreth
Address withheld

First 2018 cent found in grocery store change

I received my first 2018 Lincoln cent today from Winn-Dixie grocery store.

Larry Siehl
Address withheld

Doesn’t seem practical to keep cranking out cents

Not only have I not found a 2018-dated coin yet, I am still looking for my first 2017-dated coin. To be honest, I use credit cards for everything, as I get fairly substantial rebates, so I rarely use or receive change. While I personally think that cents are worthless, I do have a Whitman album that I try to update every year.

I could never understand how the Mint can crank out cents by the billions yet they are so hard to find. I think the average person really does not care about cents so there is no demand in the marketplace; only the die-hard collectors who keep buying rolls from their local bank really care. Do any of these guys realize that when several collectors buy rolls of coins from the local bank on a Friday and return them on Monday, eventually you will be searching through rolls that have already been picked over by someone else? Also, I keep reading about fears of price rounding as a reason to keep minting cents. We can stop minting cents and prices will stay the same. When you go grocery shopping, you do not pay for items one at a time, you pay in the aggregate.

Peter Glassman
Address withheld

Bike commuter reports finds from road in 2017

How time flies. This is the eighth year that I have written to the Numismatic News to recap my F.O.R. (Found On Road) coins. This odd tradition started when I began commuting to work by bicycle. I noticed coins and picked them up when it was safe to do so. Now it is a contest to see if I can exceed last year’s totals. The total for 2016 was 140 coins.

I also have found quite a few tools as well. I suspect a good number of tools fall out of landscaper trailers. The sockets and wrenches are most likely from auto repair shops.

My dad had a gas station in the day, and it was inevitable that the tool inventory would be reduced over time due to tools being left under the hood. I recall more than once that we would find a wrench or ratchet under the hood of a regular customer when he would come back for the next tune-up. The tools found in the road this year include three wrenches, three sockets, two pliers and seven golf balls along with one baseball.

I seem to have drifted off the coin topic – sorry. I found several unusual coins in 2017 such as: 1984 Australian one dollar, Irish two-cent coin and 1968 Canadian one cent. The summary for 2017 is 183 pennies, 14 nickels, 17 dimes and 7 quarters for a total of 221 U.S. coins for a value of $5.98.

Name withheld
Des Plaines, Ill.

2018 cent waiting for collector in wife’s car

Attached is a scan of the new 2018 cent found today, Feb. 14.

I would have reported the find earlier but since becoming visually impaired nine months ago due to a stroke, my change checking hasn’t been consistent. This coin has probably been in my wife’s car for two or three days.

I’ve noticed that the Philadelphia mint has reverted to not using the letter “P” on the cent coins for this year.

Gerald d’Aquin
Harvey, La.

Two 2018 cents pleasant Valentine’s Day surprise

I treated myself to lunch today (Feb. 14) at a local fast food chain restaurant (bleh, I know) and received two shiny 2018 pennies from Philly (no “P”), now in 2x2s, in my change. Happy Valentine’s Day to me! I’m a rookie numismatist, and I thoroughly enjoy receiving and reading Numismatic News front to back. Please keep up the good work and I look forward to many more years of reading your publication.

Jay Woodin
Wiggins, Miss.

Abandoned CoinStar rejects boon for collector

Don’t pass by those CoinStar machines without looking at them. I’ve had a bit of luck lately at the one housed in the supermarket next door to the gym where I take my daily exercise.
Recently, I found some world coins, both old and modern euros, along with a couple of 1943 steel cents. Last week there was a handful of wheat cents, including 1920, 1926 and an EF 1938 with original mint red around the devices. Apparently, customers left these behind thinking they must be no good if the machine rejected them.

We’ve had two or three generations since the demise of silver coins, wheat cents, Buffalo nickels and so forth. Those under the age of 50 who find or inherit an old jar of these items have no idea what they are. CoinStar rejects many of these coins, along with those with rim dings, bent coins and other problems. Many of these can still be spent or saved. I even found two flattened cents that had the wheat ears still visible on one side. You’ll never get rich doing this, but it sure is fun, and hey, it couldn’t hurt either!

Bob Klippstein
Greensboro, N.C.