I'm finally starting to see some 2009 cents!

[DaveG]

While some people I know got a random 2009 cent here and there during the first 3/4 of 2009, I didn't see my first one until September or October. I got a second one in December, but I really wasn't seeing them in any numbers.

 

Yesterday, finally, I was at a deli for lunch and when I got my change, I noticed that the clerk had just opened a roll of brand new cents. I was prepared for them to be 2008 (or even earlier), but much to my surprise, he handed me three brand-new log cabin 2009 cents!

 

Maybe they're finally starting to be pushed out into commerce!

[coinman23885-migration]

I don't think that they are being stored in federal reserve vaults; that is, I think most of them have already been released into circulation. My local banks have stopped getting the boxes, and when they do receive them, they are usually gone within hours. Apparently, for some of the designs in particular, there is some demand for uncirculated bank rolls.

 

With that being said, you have to note that the mintages are unusually low for the series because of the looming recession. For the second or third design, I cannot remember which, I actually traveled about 35 minutes away to a bank in another town nearby to purchase some (~$60) for my collection. At the time, they were going on ebay for $12-$19 a roll although the prices have come down some now.

[DC Dawg]

The last update from the Treasury IG said that there are a lot of cents in the coin depots for all of the Fed districts. They were purchased from the Mint because of the 2009 program but there have been backlogs because there are so many coins in circulation.

 

If your bank buys its coins from the Fed, then they will get rolls. If they go through intermediaries, which a lot of medium and small banks do, then you will not see too many 2009 rolls. Many of the private coin depots that work in the distribution chain find an abundance of coins, especially from coin counting machines whose usage went up in 2009.

 

I've been seeing some 2009 cents and quarters in December and am still waiting to see a DC quarter in the DC area. It really has not been a good year for change hunters!

 

Scott

[TJ'S Coins]

I have received a few childhood Lincoln's in change. I did pick-up several rolls of the young Lincoln from our local bank. I've yet to see the third or fourth coin in circulation. That is disappointing.