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 Replies: 18 / Views: 4,704 |
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Pillar of the Community
979 Posts |
You see coins from the 1800s in high grades and I was wondering how did they survive?
You can see large cents that are in great condition and same with all other coins.
I always assumed that people did not earn alot so they would not be able to afford saving coins.
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Valued Member
United States
295 Posts |
Well, when thousands upon thousands of coins are minted, a few are bound to be set aside and forgotten about, until someone decides it's worthy of preservation for collectible value. I don't find it surprising that, say, out of a million large cents minted in a given year, some uncirculated examples can still be found today.
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
Cash has always been 'salted' away. Coins often end up thrown out of a pocket and possibly not cashed in. And, of course, some are lucky. Also, collectors.
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Moderator
 United States
188612 Posts |
Quote:
I always assumed that people did not earn alot so they would not be able to afford saving coins. There have always been well off people with the means. Maybe not as many as today, but they were still there. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
In simple general terms, they were hoarded, and never circulated after that.
It is still possible (although rarely), to obtain ancient coins in 'as struck' condition.
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
I've worked with dozens of estate liquidation, almost exclusively for farmers. All but one had a safe. Not a gun safe but real safes.
All but two of those safes included coins and currency. A surprising amount of gold. Many of the owners had marked the coins with origins. "Wedding gift from Aunt Sally, won for shooting challenge in 1908 (estate included the trophy), Birthday present - etc.
Those coins didn't have any circulation for decades.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Look at it this way , when one finds a 1959 Lincoln Cent today in CH-AU Red we holder it and store it away .Then it gets passed down multiple times. So in the year 2117 it was finally sold to a dealer , a newbie comes along in 2118 and buys it and says to himself how the heck did this ''Penny'' stay in such great condition after all these years ?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
655 Posts |
I think banks and bankers had a lot to do with putting aside mint-state coins and currency. They had first crack at the stuff and probably made a good enough wage that they could do that. I know it wouldn't have been me. It's like me setting aside $100 bills that I think are interesting, today. Not going to happen, lol.
What I'm curious about is how some coins, like early Morgans, now 139 years old, can still be bright silver!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Since China is still making them, naturally they all look new.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
655 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1590 Posts |
As a coin dealer in the Midwest, I see lots of this.
Moxking gives some real good examples.
Others are that people were often given coins at the time of birth. We still do it today. Often those coins survive in high AU to MS.
Something else, during the "great melt" a few years ago, there were a surprising number of Hoards brought in. While I know that at the height of the GM, dealers were sending them in to be melted as fast as they came in, I know at least two refineries that paid people to go through the coins brought in for melting to pull MS or certain series such as CBH. As a result there are a lot more of these coins in the collector world than there were before the great melt.
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Valued Member
United States
304 Posts |
I read somewhere that during the mid 19th century, prior to the civil war, many people hoarded silver coins out of fear of economic ruin in their near future. After the civil war many of the coins that were hoarded were spent back into circulation and thus the government minted fewer small denomination coins up until the late 1890's when mintage numbers started to increase again. I'm sure that a lot of the coins that were hoarded were forgotten about inside of drawers, lost purses, etc.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
My mother, now 95 years old, still has the first 1938 Jefferson nickel she got back in 1938 when she was a teenager. She kept it because it was a new type of nickel. I'm sure this type of thing has happened for years and years. Paul Bulgerin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1261 Posts |
I think many never even made it to circulation. The larger coins like half dollars and dollars were traded between banks. I agree also that economic times led to hoarding and many were removed from circulation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2205 Posts |
I've read stories about thousands of old uncirculated coins discovered at a time in people's walls. I've also read stories about old shipwrecks yielding chests full of uncirculated 19th-century coins.
I hear you about collectors not being as rabid about saving coins as we are today, because people couldn't afford the luxury of saving coins. But I believe they did--not just in the same numbers. It's human nature to want to take something bright and shiny and keep it for yourself. Collectors--from your Alexander P. Bumsteads to your John Q. Rockefellers--have always been around. Eventually their holdings see the light of day. And just think of all the wonderful coins like these that are still unknown!
Edited by jpsned
01/21/2018 10:22 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
All very good reasons why coins from the mid 1800's survive in such high grades .  |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 4,704 |
Posted 01/20/2018 9:47 pm
