Coins & Money

You Might Have a Hidden Fortune in Your Loose Change Jar at Home

Probably every person in America has a container or collection space for pocket change at homes. A water cooler jug or a glass jar are notorious for fitting countless numbers of daily deposits of loose pocket change. With the COVID-19 pandemic having moved so many purchases without cash or online, that endless supply of loose change is now just stuck at home on top of millions of dressers.

Collectors Dashboard is generally focused on evaluating collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means that the capital spent on any collectible could have just as easily (or even more easily) been invested into stocks, bonds and real estate. This article is more about evaluating potential riches you might be sitting on without having ever knowing it.

Since America’s “change shortage” was so widespread in 2020, it’s time to evaluate what you might have in your change jar at home. The minimum effort that should be considered is taking your loose change to a Coinstar machine and condensing that cash for a small fee — and it will feel free enough.

There is something else to consider for those who still have a lot of free time on their hands. You could accidentally or unknowingly be sitting on hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars despite there only appearing to be $10.00 to $25.00 in loose change. There are still many coins in circulation that are either key date coins or which were errors or might contain silver in the coin itself.

With the change having all been one-way ahead of and into the lock-down orders it’s possible that tens of thousands of Americans have no clue they are sitting on hidden assets that are right there in front of them.

You can always buy a coin book from a local coin shop or online and spend an afternoon filling it up. A fun afternoon can be filling a coin book with young children, but that container full of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters may prove to be worth many times higher than face value.

When you begin your search keep these guidelines in mind:

  • Silver coins are Pre-1965 for Dimes and Quarters
  • Half-Dollars are silver Pre-1970
  • Jefferson Nickels are silver alloy between the years 1942-1945

Mint mistakes are rare due to the Mint wanting flawless money, but about 40 copper pennies from 1943 are known to exist according to the U.S. Mint. The year 1943 numismatically became famous for only minting steel pennies. Copper pennies were accidentally created when the previous year’s planchets remained in the minting process.

The spirit of this information is they were all found in change in the decades that followed. Here are some key sales that have been realized — The first of which was offered for sale in 1958 and sold for $40,000.00 according to the U.S. mint. November 2020 saw a Heritage Auctions sale of a 1943-S copper cent graded PCGS MS63 Brown CAC for $500,000.

Near mint coins from another generation may still be found in your collection space. According to Coinweek, the year 1982 and 1983 mint sets were only offered in the gift shops of the respective mints. Because of the national recession uncirculated rolls of coins were not saved in large numbers. This means a shiny coin from 1982 or 1983 is worth putting in a cardboard coin holder or Mylar coin flip. According to the PCGS price guide a Mint State 1982 and 1983 penny are worth several dollars vs several cents.

Finding a key date coin in pocket change is rare but not impossible.

Jefferson Nickels have been considered to be the most common “old” coin to find in loose change because visually they have had the least amount of alterations since the series began in 1938. The war years of 1942 through 1945 are silver alloy. A 1950 D Jefferson Nickel is the key date for the series.

Coin collecting transcends generations and sifting through pocket change can include the whole family. Or maybe you have an older neighbor that has been holding change in jars since the 1970s who could use some help. And maybe there is an old piggy bank from when you or someone else had as a child, which is more likely to have the rare coins than fresh piles of loose change that looks all shiny and new.

Knowing when silver ends in American numismatics is important. Perhaps you’ll even find one of the unknown 1943 copper pennies going through your change collection this very weekend. This is not an effort that is likely to create a riches from rags story, but it may be well worth your time to see what all you own that came with huge upside you never even considered.

And remember one thing if you do find a valuable old coin you didn’t know about — Don’t dare shine it up!

 

 

 

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