I take all my coins out of my pocket at the end of the day and deposit them in various containers as a feeble savings program. Need the quarters for laundry anyway. To make life more interesting, I keep one of each state quarter I come across, and all the Bicentennial quarters. Then I got to thinking, why let the quarters have all the fun? I began saving one penny from each year, just to kinda see how many old ones I could find. I have completed the 60’s, the 70’s and the 90’s, but for some reason I have NOT seen a penny from 1988. I really have been looking. It has gone beyond statistical probability limits some time ago.
Was there some halt in the production of pennies that year? A slowdown? Is there some freak who collects ONLY 1988 pennies?
Well, if I’m reading this page correctly, more than 11 billion 1988 pennies were minted for circulation. That’s more pennies than in 1987, 1990, 1991, and many other years. I can’t explain your predicament.
I just went and checked a stash of pennies I’m saving up until I have the time and energy to roll them up and take them to the bank. The 30th one I checked is from 1988! So how much is it worth to you?
Seriously, the only explanation I can come up with for your inability to find 1988 pennies is very bad luck.
In the late '80s I knew a couple of guys who were single-handedly trying to take the penny out of circulation. They had an enormous pile. It could be that the entire 1988 production run is in a suburban backyard in San Jose.
