They didn’t… check the date of the original post.
If you’re referring to my OP, I didn’t say anything about it being a British coin. 
It’s not just the UK that had George VI pennies. 
I once received a Roman coin, valued around $1400. Unfortunately, right after I received it, I had to give it right back.
Didn’t the OP ask for the oldest coins received in change?
I still occasionally get Jefferson nickels from the 1940s. All other U.S. coins of that time have either been discontinued or had their compositions changed to cheaper metals, because the cost of materials has exceeded the face value–even the $.01 coin. It’s not legal to do so, but some people have melted down old pennies for the copper. And similarly as with pre-1965 dimes and quarters, pennies from the pre-zinc era have become quite rare in circulation.
When I notice wheatbacks, I kept them in a bowl … no real reason. The oldest is probably early 1920s.
But my FAVORITE that was received in change is a 1943 steel penny. These were made from zinc coated steel instead of copper because of shortages during the war. Actually, it was my husband who received it in his change. But he came right home to show me, and we’re both such geeks we sat around on the couch marveling at it for about an hour. This was about 2006, I think.
I remember Victorian shillings and florins used as 5 and 10 (new) pence pieces in the eighties, before the size of the coins was reduced. I’m not sure if I got them myself in change or was given them by relatives, I was a little obsessed wiv coins as a kid.
That’s just not true. Maybe by 2050. But right now, they’re not even scarce. I’d say about 20-25% of the one cent coins I receive in circulation in the DC area are 1982 or old copper coins (that are worth more in copper than their face value).
Someone was spending a penny, belike. 
I’ve come across a few 1888 pennies over the years.
My mom had one from when she was young <um, she’s not that old; it was old to her when SHE found it> and so ever since it’s been something I notice and look for.
I have no idea why, but 1888 has always captured my imagination as a year I need to be in. Or was in. Or something. O.o I think I read one too many time-travel stories as a kid. Or probably that penny really made an impression on me.
A bit off topic, but what the hell, it’s a zombie!
I’ve got nothing special in the coin department, but the oldest paper bill I’ve ever found in actual circulation was a $100 gold certificate that I found in 1990, which had to have been printed in 1934 at the latest. I worked at a check cashing place at the time, and it came in one of the bundles from the bank. I did switch it out, but couldn’t afford to keep a $100 dollar bill as a souvenir, so I sold it to a friend for about $25 profit. We used to find $1 and $5 silver certificates in the bank bundles all the time.
Weirdest coin I ever got in my change was a two-headed “magician’s quarter”. I actually had to search online to figure out what the hell it was, and then I could finally see the seam just inside the rim on one side. Blew me away at first because the two sides were dated seven years apart, and had different mint marks.
It would have been a 1928 series. It also was a Federal Reserve Note, not a “gold certificate.” Sure, it had the clause printed on it about “redeemable in gold…,” but it wasn’t a gold certificate.
Seriously? I note that you are from Australia, as I am. I was born in 1963. I’m a bit (a tiny bit) of a coin buff, and I well remember receiving sixpences and shillings (and to a lesser extent, florins) in change until about 1970 or so (and that included some George VI coins and I think maybe even previous kings), but I’ve certainly never received them in the past 35 years (since 1975 or so).
When is the latest you remember receiving pre-decimal coins?
Please don’t take this as a criticism because it is in no way intended as such - I’m actually really interested if pre-decimal Australian coins are still around.
1907 nickel. And a pristine 1940 dime in a pay phone coin box.
Oldest coin I have in my “unofficial coin collection” (which is basically a small box I store anything interesting numistically in - I don’t consider myself a “coin collector” (especially not a numismatist) even though I have what is, for all intents and purposes, a coin collection) is a 1928 American penny. I guess it would be what this thread calls a “wheat back”. Don’t recall how I got it, as I seem to have had it forever, might have found it on the ground. Interesting, as I’m a Canadian, and my oldest Canadian coins are about 15 years newer than that (George VI stock) - a few of those, plus a few early Lizzie ones (the ones with ribbons in her hair), plus a 1956 Canadian $1 bill that I got as payment for my paper route from an older lady one day as a kid.
Interestingly, just today I randomly grabbed a handful of coins from the coin jar to look for some $1s or $2s (ah, the joys of Canadian life!) and saw an interesting coin that caught my eye, what is called the “Union Shield” design for US pennies of 2010 (with a 2010 date on it, of course - its shiny-ness caught my eye as well). I can’t tell from the relevant Wikipedia article, is this Union Shield going to be a permanent look for the penny (at least for the next few decades), or is it just a 2010 thing?
Doesn’t the intro paragraph suggest that it’s permanent?
Ah, shows me right for looking everywhere but the obvious place … :o
Good, I really like the new penny look.
Although, as I mentioned, silver coins have virtually disappeared, I did actually get a Mercury dime in change about 20 years ago.