I’ve had sixpences, in the place of 5p coins, on a number of occassions. Not of great age, and of no value, but it’s fascinating to think that these coins have remained in circulation for something like 50 years (they remained in use after decimilisation for some time), and not been removed. I did my civic duty, and used them to pay a bus fare, keeping the chain going 
I have two Buffalo nickels, dated 1935 and 1937. I found them both in my change when I stopped at a 7-11 to buy a hot dog one day
A penny is a British coin, before decimalization (when the term got borrowed) copper and worth 1/12 shilling or /240 pound. The coin issued in America worth 1/100 dollar and about the same size and metallicity as the British penny is officially the cent or one-cent piece, but traditionally called the penny by Americans.
The animal on the reverse of the five-cent piece prior to 1938 was a Bison bison named “Black Diamond.” Buffalo are Bos bonasus and a couple of related species and Syncerus caffer, and are not found in the wild in America.
Or was I whooshed about what your 
was in relation to?
Obviously, some non-fastidious person spent a penny in the shower!
I’ve received a few early 1900’s US cents and lots of dimes form the 1920’s. About a month ago I got my first old Canadian coin, a George V. The date is worn so it’s somewhere between 1911 and 1936. The face is in pretty good shape though.
My favourite coin I got in change was a blank US nickel planchet.
I always check my change. I picked up the habit in the states looking for silver coins. I’ve managed to pluck quite a few (perhaps 100 or so) in my life. When I worked retail I always found cool stuff in the registers and I’d buy it when I cashed out.
The part I quoted seemed like a non-sequitur. First, there was something about the US not having a penny, then suddenly we’re talking about the buffalo nickel, when it hadn’t been mentioned up to that point. Perhaps it was just poorly written. Buffalo may not be found in America, but pedantry aside, “buffalo nickel” is the common term and is how the coin is classified in any coin book on the market. Technically wrong or not, a cent is a penny and a bison is a buffalo in common usage.
Back to the OP, the oldest coin I received in change was a 1935 buffalo nickel from a vending machine. The most valuable was a Type II Susan B. Anthony from a post office vending machine.
I have a 1907 V nickel, a 1940 dime and a 1956 ten shilling coin.
OK, got it. Basically, Common Tater, having said “penny” for a $0.01 piece, was alluding to the pedantic objections that “it isn’t really a penny, it’s a one-cent piece” and its brother-in-fussbudgetry “You know the animal on the back of old nickels isn’t really a buffalo.” You saw the comment as a non-sequitur, used the s in consequence, and I wrote a less-than-needed clarification. Sorry! :o
Pas de tout!
Before the UK reduced the size of the 5 pence and 10 pence coins (in 1990 and 1992 respectively), pre-decimal shillings and florins (two shillings) circulated alongside them, as they had the same value. Theoretically you could get some REALLY old coins that way, but in practice it was very rare to find any older than 1947, as before that date they had considerable silver content. I remember finding a George V shilling in my change once, though.
Nowadays, no coins older than 36 years are legal tender – and the only ones that old are 1 penny and 2 pence coins.
The oldest you’ll find of the others are:
5p: 1990 (change of size)
10p: 1992 (ditto)
20p: 1982 (year of introduction)
50p: 1997 (change of size)
£1: 1983 (year of introduction)
£2: 1997 (year of introduction for standard coin, but older commemoratives do still crop up very occasionally).
So much for the great historic pound sterling
Was the “pound sterling” ever a pound of sterling? Seems like that would be a hefty chunk of change, even if avoirdupois…
The oldest coin I currently have is a british one. A George V shilling from 1928.
The original pound sterling was a monetary value (as opposed to actual piece of currency) equivalent to a troy pound* of sterling silver (.935 fine, or something close to that). There was never a one-pound-weight silver coin, of course. The guinea when first issued as a coin (before inflation and the eventual fixing of the guinea as money of account worth 21s), and the sovereign officially for most of its existence, were gold coins equal in value to one pound sterling.
- A troy pound was 12 troy ounces, significantly lighter than a pound avoirdupois (about 0.823 lb. av., or 0.373 kg).
Counting the cash box at work a couple weeks ago, I found a quarter that was the wrong color, and so I pulled it out, thinking I had been passed a fake. Turns out it is a 1934 silver quarter (US), worth anywhere from $15 to $2000. I’m thinking its only worth $15, but its nice to dream, isn’t it? I also pick out all the wheatback pennies I find.
umm. i have i penny from 1907 its an indian head but has a whole in it … my papa said its becuz african americans wore them on their ankles … i also found a penny from like 1939 i think
I used to run a friend’s fireworks stand for him in college. If there’s one thing kids will raid their (and their Dad’s) coin collections for it’s fireworks. That was part of the deal, I got to go through the change each night and sort out all the old stuff.
I’ve got a pretty good collection, stuff several grandparents kept over the years. Late 1800s and silver before the switch.
I don’t know that you could call it “received” but when we were in either Greece or Turkey at one of the classical sites, some excited old shepherd approached me with a coin he’d found. This was way off the tourist trail and it was definately real, not the fakes some pawn off. It’s worn and oxidized but you can easily make out an xXx on one side and a ship on the other. Someday I need to get that identified, dated and valued.
I do not understand how you could have got a pre-decimalization penny in change in 2010. Not only is it not be legal tender, but it would not remotely resemble, in size and color, any British coin currently in circulation (or any that have been legal tender since long, long ago).
I am old enough to have had Victoria pennies occasionally in my change, before decimalization; probably Victorian halfpennies and farthings too, although I cannot swear to that. I used to have an old silver threepenny bit, too (what they had before the 12 sided ones with the portcullis came in), but I did not get it from change. It was passed on to me by a relative who had it from earlier times.
On checking my Big Box o’ Odd Coins:
Penny – 1937 (and several more from the 1940s)
Nickel – 1945 (silver wartime version – I’ve also received the occasional nickel from 1938-1941, but since there’s nothing unusual about these, I spent them)
Dime – 1962. I’m pretty sure that I’ve also received pre-1965 silver quarters in change, but I can’t find one just now.
Well, they take awhile to get through your digestive system. Let’s just say that coin was not “dropped” there, but “plopped” there.
1927 silver dollar with woman on front and a cute standing eagle on the back. it is rather big and hefty.