I have had two reports today of the new pennies being found in circulation! The first report, from Wanda W. near Houston, Texas, came in at 9:42 am CT this morning. The second report comes from Sheri, who received them Monday night in change. Sheri writes:
The new pennies are out in Houston, TX. I received two of them in change on Monday night. They are nice looking but are really light. At first I thought they were fake pennies.
This is an interesting observation, since the new pennies are, of course, the same copper-coated zinc composition we've had since 1982 which weighs 2.5 grams. But when I held my own first new penny, (before they were released during my tour of the U.S. Mint earlier this month), I also had this strange impression. Maybe it's because we expect something more from this grand new, long-awaited design. I have weighed the specimens I have received since, and they do all weigh the proper 2.5 grams. Funny how impressions can be.
Wanda W., who gets the honor of being the first person in America to report to About.com Coins of having found the new penny in circulation says the coin "looks great!" She got the coin from the local Bolero's gas station in Deer Park, in the greater Houston metropolitan area. She's had the new pennies for several days now, but didn't realize the significance until she read in my newsletter that the coins weren't reaching circulation. Wanda said that at first she thought the penny was Canadian or something, since it looked odd, but then she saw the reverse design and realized it was the new U.S. Cent she'd been hearing about.
Thank you to both Wanda and Sheri for reporting your circulation finds of the new pennies, and congratulations on being the first collectors in the U.S. to find the coins in pocket change! Collectors all over America envy you! I would love to hear reports from other readers who get the coins in circulation.
Some Pricey PenniesA reader named Steve posted an auction that I missed during my eBay research last night (probably because it was sold on eBay's UK site rather than the USA site) - a box of 50 rolls of the new pennies which sold for an astounding $1,525.00! Paying that kind of money for $25 worth of currently circulating coinage is just ...absurd! Thanks for sharing this astonishing auction, Steve!
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Comments
I am placing a 4 box cent box order with my bank every week. I live in Southwest Florida and so far, my bank is only getting boxes of recycled older cents. I was able to get a box of Harrison dollars last week, maybe those new cents will hit the banks this week. I’m using Obama’s buzz words, I HOPE I can get new CHANGE at my bank this week. lol
You warn people of the pre-sale scam but you have it advertised on your web site in a link.
Guess money talks.
Bruce,
I have absolutely no control over the ads that appear on my site. Like most Webmasters who have Google Sponsored Links, About.com gets the ads delivered to the page based on keyword relevancy, so an article warning about eBay scams will probably draw eBay scam ads; this is just a fact of life on the Internet in a Google-run world.
If you feel an ad really is offensive or an outright scam, you can report it to About.com and if they agree, they will get the ad taken off. Here’s the place to make your report:
http://coins.about.com/gi/pages/pform.htm
I appreciate your diligence in taking the time to report this. =)
Susan Headley
About.com Guide to Coins
Thanks for the article. I live in Houston and after reading your article, I went to Walmart this morning and was able to get 6 new 2009 Lincoln penny rolls from my bank there.
We are the seller with the pre-sale. We clearly state on the site it is a pre-sale. We are also selling subscriptions to the entire 4 roll set and conservatively state expected release dates. We then follow up and let people know that they should expect their coins in about a month. It’s hardly a scam. Please keep your rude comments to yourself if you don’t know what you are talking about.
Mike,
I really don’t want to get into a confrontation with you, but I’m curious how can you promise to sell coins at $5 a roll that you have no guarantee of ever receiving?
The mintage for these Log Cabin pennies (at last report) stands at about 287 mil. The Fed placed a very small order for the pennies because their terminals are full of pennies moving the wrong direction right now. In less than 10 days, the Mint will begin striking the second 2009 design, which will forever end the striking of Log Cabin pennies.
Let’s be generous and say the Mint manages to bang out 400 mil of Log Cabins, about 200 mil from each Mint. There are 300 million Americans who would easily have $1 to spend to “put away” a couple of rolls of these. In past years, the Mint has had penny mintages measured in the billions. IF the stuff I’m hearing is true, and the mintage for the log Cabin ends up being very low by comparison, the pennies may never sell for less than $10 a roll again.
So, how can you promise to sell them for $5 a roll when (a) You don’t even have them yet, and (b) You have no idea what you will have to pay for them when you do get them?
Do you plan to just cancel everyone’s orders if you can’t get the pennies? Or would you be honorable and fulfill your promises to your customers at $5 per roll even if they cost you $10?
Please enlighten me as to how it is that you can guarantee delivery of these coins?
I mean, we’re not talking about something sold by the Mint at a fixed price, such as Proof Sets and Silver Eagles; this is a purely speculative venture! If you happen to luck out and get the pennies cheaply, you win. If not, your customers who put their faith (and money) in you get let down. THAT is the reason why I harshly question the dealers who are taking pre-orders for these coins.
I would love to hear your side of this. =)
Susan Headley
About.com Guide to Coins
(Note: I edited this post to correct a typo and fix a statement. Sorry for the mistakes.)
If you want to be educational, stop calling the American cent a “penny”. The penny is a British coin.
Susan,
Let’s hope that Mike responds back with an acceptable answer. He sort of owes it to you (us) now, beings that you’ve basically given a free sales pitch for him.
Meaning… if the numbers you’re quoting turn out to be reality, then heck, I might put in an order to buy some rolls from Mike for $5 and hope he’s honorable. lol (I am on his mailing list but have not bought from his site).
The future will show if Mike was truthful and honorable. People here certainly let the community know when someone is not. Keeping it all real, Mike’s just trying to make a living and his ads are pretty clear (unlike those of some other sellers)… I for one am not a fan of the pre-sales though – especially those that can’t be guaranteed.
If the mintage totals you mentioned hold up… wow… when’s the last time we saw totals that low for the pennies? I know it’s only a quarter of the year’s total but as you said, this particular design will never be minted again. Since before I was born it’s always been the same old Memorial on the reverse. Personally, I think they should retire the penny after this year. It’s been over a century since we did away with the previous lowest denomination.
Susan – I believe it was you who earlier mentioned that the Mint was going to start selling the pennies on their web site. Any updates or elaborations on that?
PS – I’m not the previous Dave who posted. As you can tell I’m OK with “penny”.
Like anyone with any sense at all, I’m sure Mike will be getting his rolls through normal banking channels at 50 cents per.
How can anyone find the pennies? Are they still coming in complete rolls? and is their a place the second design will be released like the first one? I am interested in getting my hands on some of these coins, but up in Maine, there have been no sightings.
(Go figure!)
Oh ya, Mike, The first Dave and Susan, please keep this all PG as My children love reading the blog. It seems to me that there is an edgy tone going on between you guys and I don’t want this to end poorly.
Susan,
Mike had probably not thought this one through and expected the Mint to strike loads of these cents. Don’t forget, we have Home Shopping Channel selling tons of these ANACS sets. They are sucking the air out of the room for us little guys who want a couple of rolls to squirrel away in the closet. This will most likely be one of the rarest Lincoln cents ever struck.
Susan,
You reported previously in another post that 290 million were minted, not 190 million that you posted here. That was just for January. Similar numbers will come out for February in a few days, and my understanding is these will be minted throughout March, so we will wind up with close to 1 billion. This is still less than last year, but keep in mind that in 1999 with the State Quarter program, that only about 250 Million of each design were minted per mint, and you can still find almost all of them in circulation 10 years later. They may not be released into circulation right away due to the backward problem you mentioned, but all that means is that some will get released, and the rest will get stored until later in the year. The coins will be readily available in about a month, and that’s when I tell my customers they will ship.
What determined the mintage totals for the state quarters? Was the demand of each based on current economic conditions and monetary policy, the general public, or a combination of both?
While there is demand for these new pennies specifically from the numismatists, I doubt the general public cares that much and due to the economy there is no demand from the banking industry.
Mike – When Susan toured the Mint, the penny lines were idle. Why would they ramp them back up only to store the unneeded pennies? They did that with Morgan dollars and they sat in government vaults for 60 years at the expense of the taxpayers. That won’t happen again. But everyone is trying to cut costs.
Part of me hopes you’re right. Part of me hopes you’re wrong. A lower mint total will make them more valuable but that does me little good if I can’t get any. I guess I want my cake and I want to eat it too.
So far, the mint has only published January production figures and they minted ~300 million pennies, ~100 million in Philadelphia and ~200 million in Denver. If they stay at that pace for the year, just under one billion of each design will be produced for circulation. Even though this is well below previous years production and the four types reduce numbers further, these cents will never be “rare”. Even the sold out and much coveted 2001 buffalo silver dollar, of which “only” 500,000 were made (total of proof & uncirculated) has seen downward price pressure in the last year or so. As more of the coins start changing hands, the sheer volume of available coins will force prices to reasonable levels. As with most modern circulation coinage, I don’t expect that anything less than MS65 or MS66 2009 pennies will have any real value in the long run. The mint will produce and stockpile the 2009 pennies if it needs to and cut back on 2010 and beyond production because those are one type per year. The fact that people are hoarding the new pennies will actually help to keep prices down for many years to come because there will be a steady supply of high quality uncirculated coins. Some of the most valuable small change comes to us from the Great Depression, when no one could afford to keep any small change because they needed to spend it on life’s basic supplies. All but a handful of small denomination coins from that era saw heavy circulation, making uncirculated examples truly rare. It is unlikely that even our current hard times will cause that to happen again, but it could significantly reduce the mint’s production of collectable silver coins.
Sounds like someone may be crying wolf. It doesn’t sound like the new pennies are out in circulation anywhere. For example: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=43684&whichpage=1
Anyone that has purchased a roll could spend a few or say they got them from a store that doesn’t mean they are being distributed in every handful of change including Houston. I live in KY and have some rolls of these cents from the Hodgenville ceremony if I spend some I guess I could say they are “circulating” here too! Hate to say it Susan but I think you have been deceived.
I live in Houston and picked up a box at a Capital One bank a couple of weeks ago by chance. I can also tell you that I have had them ordered at several banks and have been told by all of them that they cannot get them.
So far, I have been able to get one box and 3 rolls and that has been it. I did hear from what I would consider a reliable source that they are coming to a BOA near you in the very near future, this month. Rule of thumb…Largest banks get new coins first. There was also another bank that told me that one teller had them but was on vacation for two weeks. Also, several banks have had them already but in very limited quantities. Now that the Mint is selling them, I am sure that will change and you will not be able to find them anywhere.
I received three of the 2009 Birthplace pennies (D mint) in change at a bowling alley here in central Texas over the weekend, so they have begun to be circulated. The ones I got look like they just came out of the roll. I posted pictures of one on the forum (http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-coins&tid=1471), go have a look. The mint (PBGS) claims to have my rolls in stock but has not shipped them, even though they have “pre-charged” my credit card for them.
Clair
It is this simple, The banks get the coins from the mint. Only regestered finanial institutions can order from the mint on a penny for penny trade , quarter for quarter trade etc.
The insitutions buying the coins are the ones selling them on the Secondary Market inflating the prices . Now This causes the banks to no longer make them available to US COMMON FOLKS . The Goverment is in bed with the banking system , and the banking system continues to screws the American People.
We need to tell the Banks and Government That
” WE THE PEOPLE” , want justice , we want a answer WHY a Box of $25.00 2009 pennies is worth $ 500,00 dollars ????
” WE THE PEOPLE ” tell the Banks and Government Bail you self OUT !!! I vote that all the Politicians, No longer get the Medical Bennifits , pensions they have stolen from everyone else !!!!!!
” We the People ” Demand the Banks to sell of their Planes , Entertaiment arena , real estate etc . BEFORE THEY GET ANY THING .
” WE THE PEOPLE ” all the bankers that put us in this position in the first place YOUR FIRED !!!!!!
People Please wake up.
.
WE THE PEOPLE MAKE THE RULES !!!!
I just brought 20 rolls of these new coins at a flee market in maryland on sunday busted open one of the rolls and all were all good
I hate to tell this to everyone, I have 10 rolls of the 2009 pennies. I did get them from a Credit Union, seems they were the only one that had any in N.W. Florida. Expand your search to the Credit Unions, I have found a lot of Coins their, esp the coins everyones been looking for.
I 2 am looking for the 2nd,3rd and 4th abe pennies! I was by luck able to find the very 1st one back on July 4th in Lake Jackson, TX my home town. I was wondering does everyone have the same problem I have just about every bank we stop at the peeps are rude about us even asking for the new penny rolls. It makes my finds embarrassing rather then fun to look for. It’s a shame that being employees of the bank they have 1st pick of whatever comes in but instead are found to not even know that these new pennies even exist or that they are in so much demand. I would be so willing to trade 3or4 rolls of my P or Ds very 1st issued with someone who has the 2,3 or even 4th issued, if they are out. Also, short comment I see that people are posting when they find 1 or 2 pennies in their change I would much rather read a post stating when & where you were able to acquire the whole roll. : )
i found all the pennies in circulation. just yesterday, i found the last two that i needed at McDonalds.