My economic indicator - check your change! There is a reason you do not see many 2009 coins.

[Lucky Luciano]

I'll start with some background. When I was a kid, I used to collect coins hoping to pick a supervaluable winner from my change. I never did find anything worth more than a couple bucks (An 1873 Indian Head Penny was my best find) and usually the only things I found were wheat back pennies and some nickels from WWII that were made with silver etc. This habit I had as a kid continued into my adult years even though I don't really expect to find anything of interest. I always cehck my change after the new year to see if I can find change created in the new year. In 2009, it took 7 months for me to find a 2009 quarter and I have not seen any 2009 dimes or nickels and only 3 or 4 pennies. USually by now the new year's change is quite ubiquitous - it is still very rare.

I grew curious as to why I did not find any 2009 change. I searched the internet and found out that the reason the mint has not released very much new coinage is because the banks have not been requesting any. The reason for that is that people with big jars of change have been bringing their jars into convert to cash as people are so desperate for money. With change not sitting in people's jars, the coins are sent back into circulation so new 2009 coinage has not been necessary. It is probably a lagging indicator and less useful, but it will help confirm that things are better for me if new coins are minted and I see them in circulation like I did before the recession.

[tekisui]

1. I have a big jug almost full of coins.

I estimate nearly $200 in it now. Once it's full, I will cash out when I need it.

[femrap]

36. I keep mine in the car's

'ashtray' for those times of hunger. Gotta have a Fresco Bean Burrito from Taco Bell for 99 cents! And the Double Stack from Wendy's is damn good too. Again only 99 cents. Both are not too bad health wise. And the beans give you that needed fiber! :evilgrin:

[Robb]

2. That's really very interesting.

I've been seeing people standing in line at the Coinstar change-counting dealies at the supermarket in the past few months, never saw that before. Purely anecdotal, of course.

Side note: I went to school, apparently (didn't know him, a few years apart) with the guy who started Coinstar. My mom used to make a point of telling me about how he was driving around in a blue Ferrari. :D

[C_Lawyer09]

5. I hope they find a credit union

With a change counter where they arent charged 8-10 cents on the dollar

[Lucky Luciano]

8. TD Bank will count your change for free AND they

are open 7 days a week. They have them all over NYC and probably the northeast corridor - as well as Canada (IT is a Canadian Bank). In fact, you do not even need to have an account at TD Bank to do this! I have used it a couple times this year myself without an account, but I am thinking of getting one - the only drawback is fewer ATM machines in the city and the rest of the country. Being open 7 days a week is very user friendly for people that work during banker hours!

[C_Lawyer09]

14. Kick Ass

Open 7 days a week and will count your change for free without an account? I never heard of such an animal. I count my change at Navy Federal.

[Lugnut]

34. My credit union has a change counter machine.

They charge zero for the service. I'll take dealing with a credit union over any bank in a heartbeat.

[grace0418]

40. Heck, my local Chase takes coins. I brought in a few sacks of loose change about a year ago

and it added up to over $700!

[NightWatcher]

7. what cut does coinstar take because people are too lazy to count and roll their own?

I have made two runs to the bank with a few pounds of change en tow. I will always spend the quarters, but as I get more desperate I dip into the dimes, nickles, and eventually pennies (esp after having to move with several pounds of change)

Go count and roll your change, you'll have more money that you thought.

[shraby]

10. Banks here don't want them rolled. They prefer I

bring them in a container and they then run them through a counter directly into a bag for coins. Otherwise they have to break open each roll and put the contents into the counter.

[NightWatcher]

13. uh oh, I'm calling my bank tomorrow to see if my lazy ass can bypass the rolling

[grace0418]

41. I brought mine in bags to the local Chase branch. No problem, no charge.

You have to have an account there but it wasn't an issue and only took a few minutes.

[HughBeaumont]

12. I bought a new MP3 player with spare change once!

And yes, with the exception of the pennies I always rolled my own. Coinstar ain't gettin' a cut of my nickels, dimes and quarters.

[DJ13]

15. 8 cents per dollar

Its hardly worth obtaining the rolls, then counting and rolling for that small amount.

[tonysam]

28. I'd much rather use Coinstar than roll the stupid things up

In Nevada, it used to be one could take the coins to the casinos and they would give you paper money, but now virtually all of them have gone to the "ticket" method and don't have coins at all to put in slot machines.

[Lucky Luciano]

32. So...You can still take the ticket to get money? I did that once when I was

a grad student going to UCLA. I used the $400 I got to play poker and had a good day IIRC.

[Odin2005]

3. That's very interesting, thanks!

[C_Lawyer09]

4. Very very interesting

They are not minting a silver eagle proof this year, first break in the set since it started in '86. I did find a 1927 Buffalo in circ the other day, but I let the waitress keep it after I explained what it was.

[Brother Buzz]

22. That's a fun find. Almost all Buffalo nickels I encounter are dateless

Sometimes just part of the date is readable. The date was raised above the edge of the coin and promoted quick wear so I relish finding one with a clean crisp date.

[madrchsod]

6. silver coins are going for around 14 an ounce......

[Toucano]

9. Very good observation. n-t

[Jackpine Radical]

11. Wow, a perfect "unobtrusive measure."

I was always fascinated by unobtrusive measures--like the museum that gauged the popularity of their exhibits among various age groups by counting the noseprints on the glass at various heights.

[safeinOhio]

16. Would appear that 2009 will be a low mintage year

so putting away a few rolls might pay off. I was a coin collector as a kid. Now I can't read the date on them.

[democraticinsurgent]

17. Great thread

kicked and rec'd. Funny timing, I am a low point financially and was planning to take my change in to Coinstar myself.

This is definitely a good indicator.

[Subdivisions]

18. I cash my paycheck right next to a Coinstar machine. Used to,

you wouldn't ever see anyone using it. Now, everytime I go to cash my check there is someone there. I told the lady that cashes my check that the machine looked busy these days. She said there are people using it throughout the entire day. I asked if that was unusual and she said that the machine used to see only a few people each day.

[Lucky Luciano]

19. Here is an article with some statistics actually...

too late to edit the OP.

http://www.coinnews.net/2009/04/29/us-mint-halts-2009-nickels-and-dimes-production/

US Mint Halts 2009 Nickels and Dimes Production

"The United States Mint has halted production of circulating 2009 Jefferson nickels and 2009 Roosevelt dimes for the rest of this year, according to the latest issue of Coin World. As the dime and nickel production graphs show, the stoppage creates historic, staggering low mintages for the two coins — levels not seen since the 50s.

Coin Word’s Paul Gilkes reports the US Mint made the announcement on April 23, and included details of a scale back in producing for other circulating coins, like the three remaining 2009 Lincoln Pennies.

It’s not that the public or collectors dislike the new coins. Quite the opposite, in fact. Collector demand for 2009 circulating coinage is exceptionally high. It’s all about the recession. It has, by itself, significantly eroded demand for new coins in every day transactions.
Why? In addition to buying less, consumers as a whole no longer hoard loose change at home. They spend or cash it in, replenishing circulating supplies to such an extent that coin inventories at banks have climbed. Banks, in turn, cut Federal Reserve orders for new coin shipments. Federal Reserve banks do the same to the Mint, which is then forced to slash production."

--SNIP--

[mdmc]

20. I collect wheaties, bi-cen .25, and dollar coins..

yup..i do..

[Lucky Luciano]

23. That's cool...I like the Seated Liberty Dollars

and the other seated coinage. I used to have a PR-67 1880 quarter that I sold a couple years ago to help pay for my school loans. I like the standing liberty quarters a lot too...but my primary hobby is world travel and I sepnd nearly all my disposable income there - maybe some day I will become a coin geek again!

[mdmc]

24. my Granddad had a great collection of coins stolen from him

I've always been interested in collecting.
I like the 1976-1977 quarters with the patriot marching while beating his drum..



I also like the wheatie pennies cause they are rare enough to make my day when I get them in my change..

I like the SBAnthony and Sacajawea dollar coins - I call them my feminist currency.

I also hold on to all the JFK coins.

yupyup..i've been watchin the old coins pretty closely these days..

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Yep those are pretty coins.

I also had my coin collection stolen from me when I was in my freshmen year of college and the coins were sitting at home in the house I grew up in. Turns out that some kids from the far upstate boonies near the Adrirondacks who were doing some housework for my father stole them - and they went to a coin shop back upstate and got $2,500 for them and they used it to buy a snake and a few other odd things. We luckily got most of the coins back - particularly the most valuable ones. I pressed full charges and the kids went to jail - FUCK 'EM! I am extremely and ruthlessly vengeful and cruel to anyone that touches my property. I failed to recover a pretty 1878-S Trade Dollar that was uncirculated, but outside of that the losses were a hundred wheaties and buffalo nickels.

[Duer 157099]

21. Thanks for the tip! I didn't know this about 2009 coins

I've also been a casual collector since childhood. The upside to this surge of recirculated coins is that some interesting coins can be found if you look. I have found some silver quarters in rolls of quarters that I've gotten from the banks, so they are still out there and probably even moreso now that all those coin jars are being emptied out.

[shimmergal]

26. You don't have to give Coinstar the

8 n 9/10 cents per dollar (which the store usually rounds up to a full 10%).

If you buy from Amazon.com you can get gift "cards" at face value for your coins, from the Coinstar machines. It avoids putting the purchase on your credit card, too.

Admittedly, there've been a few times I've taken in coins for cash, being very broke, but even so, I try to keep it to pennies only. It's a whole lot nicer to wait till I have $25 or more, and can order some books.

[tonysam]

27. I don't think it's so much people bringing coins into banks. Coinstar is huge.

I wish I had had stock in that company. I would have been filthy rich.

[Lucky Luciano]

31. CSTR does do a lot of this - but CSTR brings those coins somewhere...

...like a bank....and note that CSTR was around last year too, but 2008 coins are all over the shop. In 2009, the mint stopped making nickels and dimes in April - see the article in my post above #24 or #25 - it was too late to put in the OP. The total nickel and dime output is down 87% from 2008 levels. Pennies and quarters are down huge as well.

[Greyhound]

29. K&R

I suspect your indicator is more accurate than the numbers the government pulls out of it's ass and then massages to the consistency of the gruel we will be eating under the New World Order.

[ddeclue]

30. K&R! EXCELLENT FIND!

:D

I had not thought of this at all.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Taitertots]

35. I'm going to bury a mason jar of each type of coin

[central scrutinizer]

37. neurosis

When the state quarters were first issued in 1999, I started stashing them away. It became compulsive and I probably have 5000-6000 of them by now.

[Winterblues]

38. I just found a 2009 quarter from Guam

It is identical to the State series. American quarter with Washington on the front just like every other American quarter. It was a new one for me...:shrug:

[CrispyQ]

39. I know what that's like.

I was always a change saver. Then we hit a rough patch, back in the 80s S&L crisis, & spent all of our change. I remember paying for groceries with quarters & dimes. It pained me to spend so quickly, what took years to build up, but we were thankful to have it! It took us about five years to climb out from that mess!

I'm back to my change saving ways. I have piggy banks & tea tins of change everywhere. As soon as one gets full, I buy another one. I keep the pennies separately. ;)