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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,635 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2207 Posts |
A few days ago I posted about finding an IHC in change (see; " It finally happened!"). My question is, What are the chances that this cent has been in circulation ever since it was minted (in either 1885 or 1886)? In other words, do you think it's likely that it's been in circulation ever since, or do you think it's more likely that it was in someone's collection and then at some point they turned it loose? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
It was recently added to circulation without a doubt. And probably bounced from only 2 to 4 hands-max before it landed in yours.
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Moderator
 United States
34418 Posts |
 Too many people would have easily identified that this coin was different and salted it away rather than spending it. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8517 Posts |
I seed my Lincoln roll hunting returns with old IHC's before I go to the bank. Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5029 Posts |
Most definitely was not in ciculation that entire time. Regardless how it got back to circulation, it is a nice find  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
It may not necessarily have been in a "collection", but surely spent much of its life stashed in one place out of circulation until recently. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2207 Posts |
Wow--these are really terrific insights. Just wondering how everyone is pretty sure that it hadn't been in circulation the whole time? In addition to Spence's perceptive comment, why would that necessarily be unlikely?
Edited by jpsned
01/09/2018 09:35 am
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Do you really think a coin can go undetected for 133 years . Virtually impossible . If the date was not clearly visible then a collector might have thrown it back into the wild .  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3471 Posts |
with T-Bop |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
I'm also with the majority here that the coin was recently added to circulation. For years I have "salted" a few common date Indians and many more wheaties back into circulation. T I do this to generate interest in the hobby. My hope is that some young potential numismatic will find one or two and the rest will be history.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1695 Posts |
I'm wondering whether the term "in circulation" is too vague. I'm at work right now and there is a quarter in my office desk. Is it in circulation? Would all of those Sacagawea dollars sitting around in people's houses right now (e.g., in drawers, in jars) be considered "in circulation" or not? Perhaps "in circulation" means the total set of coins at a given moment that are in a bank, a purse, or cash register/machine. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Agree for sure this has only recently been returned to the wild.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
An IHC can't go that long in circulation without being noticed. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
I have been known to release IHC's, Buffalo's, Shield nickels, Mercury dimes and proof coins as well as a whole lot more into circulation just so someone can find something "neat". |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
"Likely" and "in circulation" are two rather nebulous elements in this discussion. I'll take a contrary opinion and say that it's more "likely" than a lot of people think, that this coin floated around not explicitly being in anyone's "collection" all this time. It is very very _unlikely_ that you will find one in your change any time soon, but that doesn't mean this particular one wasn't one of the few left out there. There are 300+ million people in this country and untold billions of cents knocking around. The majority of people see a round brown thing that's worth one cent.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
Many people are trained by experience or by advice to look for Wheat cents.
How could all of those people simply ignore an entirely different looking coin?
130+ years in circulation? I don't buy it.
In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,635 |
Posted 01/08/2018 9:37 pm
