As a former coin collector, I love finding old coins in pocket change. It’s very uncommon these days, and I can’t remember the last time I found anything pre-1965 other than some crappy nickel.
We went to NYC for a few days last week and after getting home last night I was cleaning out the change from where I dumped in my suitcase and there was a 1953 wheat penny! I haven’t seen one of these in circulation since. . .forever. It’s virtually worthless, but it’s cool to find it.
Excellent! I don’t know what it is about them, but I love finding wheat pennies, too!
I got a Kennedy half-dollar in change last week! I gave it to my husband; he likes to collect them.
I love finding odd coins. For some reason, I’ve found at least a half-dozen pennies from 1888 over the years; always gave them to my mom.
Found a 1958 Wheat penny on the floor of my store the other day. If it had been a 1957 I would have taken it as an omen, because it wasn’t there the night before when I vacuumed…
(I was born in '57)
A few years ago I got a 1936 buffalo nickel in change from a vending machine. It made my day. It’s like finding treasure, only. . .not.
Wow…what interesting storylines you could imagine, following the life of a coin over 50 years? Transaction to transaction to transaction…
I made a lot of numismatists very happy for a very short time a few months ago.
My son was a collector. He had piles of unsorted wheat pennys. Unfortunately, he dumped them all in CLR and made them look new, but valueless.
I took them to a local coin shop, not knowing they shouldn’t be cleaned. He told me to spend them. I dumped them into a Coin Star and got the $28.30.
We had some work done on our house not long after we moved in. The contractors had to go into the crawlspace for some of it. The house was built in 1904 and I joked to the contractor that I claimed ownership for any treasure they found in there. The guy came out with a small handful of pennies he found in there, and I was briefly excited about them until I saw that they were all from the 1980s onward.
I found something of real value several years ago, in a parking lot . . . a 1914-D penny. In its condition, it’s worth about $400-500.
I recieved a 1909 Lincoln VDB penny in change a few weeks ago. If it had been an S VDB penny it would be worth a couple of thousand dollars from what little research I did. As it is it’s worth between $3-$12.
So are the coins now value-less forever, or only until they regain a patina?
'cause that just sounds…stupid. 
I don’t know the answer to that. They weren’t really worth much anyway. I guess wheat pennies aren’t as uncommon as we think.
I once got a penny from 1870 as change. I’ve kept it.
A few weeks ago, Long Time First Time was buying some spaghetti sauce (thanks to some last-minute dinner plan changes) at the local dollar store. She noticed that the cashier was arguing with the teenage boy who was ahead of her in line, attempting to buy a candy bar.
Cashier: I can’t take this. It’s not a real coin.
Boy: I’m pretty sure it’s real. My dad gave it to me when I asked if he had a buck to spare.
Cashier: I think it’s a ceremonial coin. I’ve never seen one like it before. Don’t you have anything else?
Boy: Just some loose change – not enough to pay for the Snickers.
At this point, Long Time asked if she could see the coin. When it was shown, she gave the cashier a $5 bill for the boy’s and her purchases, collected her change, then told the boy she’d “buy” the coin off him.
She brought it home. It was a Bicentennial Eisenhower dollar.
Yes, she bought a dollar at the dollar store!
My best find was a 1926 American penny about five years ago. Pretty good,especially since I’m in Canada!
Congratulations! Don’t spend it all in one place.
I used to have a real nice collection that I started as a lilttle kid. Lots of very old, rare stuff, lots of 1976 stuff and a huge pile of $2 bills.
Till my meth-head asshole neighbor broke in and stole it all.
:mad:
i found a 1916 wheat penny, someone left it in a Coinstar. I wish I could find more foreign coins when I am out though.