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Posts Tagged ‘new lincoln cents’

New Log Cabin Design Lincoln One Cent

The new 2009 pennies still aren’t circulating anywhere, judging by the research I conducted yesterday. I called 21 banks around the country Tuesday afternoon, talking mostly to supervisory tellers and assistant bank managers (whoever handles the currency and coinage inventory), in an effort to discover whether any of them have seen the new Log Cabin pennies yet. None of the banking outlets, (which include a mix of national chains, regional credit unions, and local banks) had received the new pennies yet, as far as they knew.

Most banks are very aware of the situation, with customers asking about the new pennies every day. The banks know they probably won’t be receiving whole 50-roll boxes of the new cents, but will likely get them mixed in with older pennies, either in whole rolls or totally mixed. I asked the banks whether they tended to get the new years’ pennies early in the year every year, but most banks didn’t even know!

The 2009 pennies that have gotten out so far are virtually all from two sources: (a) The Lincoln Cent launch event in Hodgenville, Kentucky, where 80 boxes (4,000 rolls) were distributed, and the Washington, D.C. area, where the U.S. Mint coin depots had some stock on launch day. Paul Hollis, a Louisiana coin dealer, got hold of an undisclosed number of rolls, but these are not for sale; he is giving them away in small numbers as part of his million penny promotion.

Because the number of coins that have reached the public is very small, but the number of people who want them is quite large, a lively business has emerged on eBay. Full rolls of 2009 pennies are currently closing at $20 to $40 each. Single coins (usually sold in 2’s and 3’s) are getting $2.50 to $9.95 each.

Read the rest New Penny Scam #1