What is your oldest coin/bill finds in the wild?

[JTCC]

Just pulled this out a bank roll today, along with a 1920, makes me wonder what had others found in in rolls/circulation. If you had one, post your story here please.

[USSID18]

Something like this, roll hunting a few years ago.

[pnwmakes]

1911 is the oldest I have found coin roll hunting, My average box from the bank I find anywhere from 16 to 24 wheat cents a box only a hand full from the teens, mostly from the 20' to 1958. But for me it is all about the hunt.

[SensibleSal66]

Got this at a convenience store about 20 years ago.

[Triple C]

Got this in change from a local Starbucks about 3 yrs ago. When I told the Barista "thanks and showed it to him", he apologized for handing me a Canadian coin and said he would exchange it for an American nickel...lol

[richard560729]

So far, a 1955 "wheat penny".
I keep looking!

[JTCC]

Got this at a convenience store about 20 years ago.

That’s......pretty hard to beat! Congrats on the absolute amazing find!

[Earle42]

Sorry no picture. I grew up near the Canadian border and so got a lot of Canadian change to look through as well.
Most of the following are finds the 60s-80s:

Oldest cent:
US: 1906 in MS condition from a Take a Penny/ Leave a Penny tray at a gas station. Found in the early 90s.
Canada: 1937

Oldest nickel:
US: 1889 from a cash register where I was once working. The person next to me asked why I wanted a Canadian Nickel (similar to TripleC's story!). Found in 2008
Canada: 1937

Oldest dime:
US: 1916 Mercury
Canada: 1937 with date, but once got a King Geo. V no date.

Oldest quarter:
US: SLQ Type 1 no date, but its a 1917 - not the 1916 :(
Canada: 1937, but a King Geo. V with not date.

Oldest half:
US: 1908-S. Found in 2012
Canada: 1970 (only available by asking at banks - and even then some tellers didn't actually know Canada made them!)

Oldest dollar:
US: 1971 Ike
Canada: 1968 (only available by asking at banks back then and most Canadians had never seen one.)

[monsterbug1]

This barber half from '02

also found a flying eagle in a burnt coin lot that was in a fire in 2006; most coins in the lot were modern, but there was a decent bit of silver(expecially dimes), and a ton of wheats

[CoinBoy2]

I found a 1909 V.B.D. in a bank roll, and two days ago I found 1943-S silver nickel.

[JTCC]

I found a 1909 V.B.D. in a bank roll, and two days ago I found 1943-S silver nickel.

Not bad!

[CoinPyro]

Got this in change from a local Starbucks about 3 yrs ago. When I told the Barista "thanks and showed it to him", he apologized for handing me a Canadian coin and said he would exchange it for an American nickel...lol
20211122_190737.jpg

A week ago I wouldn't have known any better, but now that I do know what that coin is, that response kinda hurts

[WyoCoinMan]

Figured I should add a bill. Found a 1928 G series 2 dollar bill along with about 10 1976 2 dollar bills.

[thairunts]

My oldest was truly found in the wild.. Back about 40 years ago, I was kicking at the gravel at my grandparents house in the mountains of Arkansas and found an 1882 Shield Nickel that had been in the dirt for about 100 years. I had never seen a nickel older than a buffalo nickel before.. and it started my collection habits/hobby/addiction.

[JJForrest]

1898 Indian head cent. We got a box from the bank and had the kids help us hunt for wheat heads. One of the kids found it.

[JTCC]

Nice! Hadn’t found one yet. Keep hunting, more are still out there!

[JTCC]

My oldest was truly found in the wild.. Back about 40 years ago, I was kicking at the gravel at my grandparents house in the mountains of Arkansas and found an 1882 Shield Nickel that had been in the dirt for about 100 years. I had never seen a nickel older than a buffalo nickel before.. and it started my collection habits/hobby/addiction.

Picture please?

[Coin Mattster]

My grandma was a huge role model for me growing up. I never ever heard her speak ill of anyone else. Ever graceful and patient.

In 2006, I was offered a job in Washington D.C. I set out driving from Cincinnati with a car-full of initial essentials, apprehensive, afraid.

I made it to Zanesville, when the urge hit HARD to turn around, go back, decline the new job and just call the whole thing off! I stopped for coffee at a Howard Johnson. There among my change was a 1917 Lincoln cent - my grandma's birth year. I took it as my cue to be muster my courage and keep going. It was scary and new, but I made it through, and embarked a new adventure that became one of the most rewarding jobs in my whole working life. I was even able to transfer back to Cincinnati with the job about 8 months later.

The incident may have been a coincidence, but the enormous influence and encouragement of my beloved grandma, "Joy", is a lasting blessing that has given me comfort and direction in times of doubt and uncertainty on so many occasions. I embrace everything that turns my thoughts to her! But, come on; this was a sign!

[Iceresistance]

My great-Grandfather has the oldest Indian Head cent I've ever seen, it's in 1880s (Forgot the exact date though)

[Justice41ca]

I found a 1909 V.B.D. in a bank roll, and two days ago I found 1943-S silver nickel.

Congratulations, with that comes a question. The books say that you will just learn to tell the difference between the silver and clad nickels. Do you have a way to tell the difference? If so would you share? Thanks

[JTCC]

I found a 1909 V.B.D. in a bank roll, and two days ago I found 1943-S silver nickel.

Congratulations, with that comes a question. The books say that you will just learn to tell the difference between the silver and clad nickels. Do you have a way to tell the difference? If so would you share? Thanks

The silver war nickels would have a large mint mark above Monticello on the reverse of the coin.

[Justice41ca]

I found a 1909 V.B.D. in a bank roll, and two days ago I found 1943-S silver nickel.

Congratulations, with that comes a question. The books say that you will just learn to tell the difference between the silver and clad nickels. Do you have a way to tell the difference? If so would you share? Thanks

The silver war nickels would have a large mint mark above Monticello on the reverse of the coin.

Thank you, that part I knew as it is in the books. But on the error coins: wrong stock or metal both ways all it states is that they look different, and you will learn how to tell the difference. They give to much credit... LOL I will let you know what I come up with in about 10-20 years... LOL

[CoinBoy2]

From 1942-1945 (and a few planchet errors) the mint mark is above the Monticello building. that was the first time the Philadelphia Mint put P on a coin

[Worldwide C]

These are mine:
UK:
Coins:
1969 "chunky" 5 New Pence in place of a Ten Pence coin found while coin hunting a few weeks ago.
Note/Bills:
Last paper £50 note (Salmon signature) just recently, 9 days after they were withdrawn from circulation.

France:
Coins:
1999 20 Euro Cent (French obverse)
Note/Bills:
Eurozone 20 Euro 2015 series (2020 Lagarde signature printer code U for Banque De France).

United Arab Emirates:
Coins:
1995 1 Dirham.
Notes:
2009 20 Dirhams.

US
Coins:
1936 S Mercury Dime found in the early 80s by my mom while visiting family members in California from Mexico.
Bills:
1988 1 Dollar bill (Richmond Federal Reserve) found by my dad in 1991.

US coin found furthest away from home was a 2007 cent found on the flower of the observation deck on top of the Montparnasse Tower in Paris. But the award must go to Russia 10 Rubles 2015 (Moscow Mint) found in Egypt circa early 2018.

[JTCC]

recently found a 1911-P wheat cent in a bank wrapped roll....

[Andrew212]

I can’t believe this thread popped up now. Last week at an airport mini-mart, I was handed this coin as a $1 in part of my change. Hopefully you can see from the pics, it’s a 1798 Large Cent.I think. Honestly, I didn’t think about it until I emptied my pockets later that night. I’ve never been so shocked. I just hope someone didn’t spend it by mistake. Was thinking of having it slabbed just for preservation, but I’m worried it’ll come back as damaged because of that split on Lady Liberty’s head. Regardless. It’s far and away the oldest coin I own! Let alone have received in change! Thank you so much for providing this service to anyone that asks. It’s awesome

[JTCC]

[Iceresistance]

Holy moly! What are the odds of finding something like this?

[Earle42]

@Andrew212

I admit my first thought is that to find such a thing nowadays, especially with the huge number of fakes from China, makes me think this is not a legit coin.

So let's use this as a help to figure out a good guess as to it being legit or not.

Find online pictures of a PCGS 1798 Large Cent. When I did this I found there are several varieties. One is the 1798/97. Another thing I noticed is these come with a hair type 1 and a hair type 2. And then I saw these come with a REV of 1797 on them. All this info can be found by going to PCGS ad searching for 1798 large cent where you will then be able to choose a type and great pictures of many of the ones they have verified. The one thing I DO trust grading companies for is being able to tell fakes, and I also appreciate all the online info they have for the hobby.

Anyway...put a pic of you coin's OBV or REV onscreen and zoom in. Compare the small details, side by side with a pic of each type at that website.

Little things like the following will help you determine MOST fakes out there ( saw yours has the 1897 REV and so compared it to a verified one):

Click to enlarge.

Why did I use the REV? B/c there are only two REV varieties (regular and 1897) and many for the OBV. So after I saw the two leaves on your REV (meaning 1797 b/c 1798 only has one leaf at the top on both stems), I knew this would be the fastest comparison to make.

My guess from the above is you have a Chinese copy. If you want to take the time to do a more in depth verification like this using their online pictures, I would suggest doing so.

Now, I also know there are varieties I am not aware of. And with coins this old they sometimes used different dies giving slightly different appearances. I will leave it up to you to compare yours to all of the pics of the 1797 REV to see if yours matched perfectly with any of the ones there.

There are other things I noticed, but using this technique will allow you to understand its not hard to identify most fakes out there and/or verify if a coin is real.

Know that a specialist for large cents, which I am NOT, may know little details like this by heart. But for those of us outside a specialty area, these techniques can help us.

[Buried_In_Cents]

I've had a few very cool finds, but this is the oldest overall by far.
I found it in a bank box of half dollars near the end of 2019 (I would regularly search through boxes of half dollars every week).

[JTCC]

Very, very nice find!

[Worldwide C]

I can’t believe this thread popped up now. Last week at an airport mini-mart, I was handed this coin as a $1 in part of my change. Hopefully you can see from the pics, it’s a 1798 Large Cent.I think. Honestly, I didn’t think about it until I emptied my pockets later that night. I’ve never been so shocked. I just hope someone didn’t spend it by mistake. Was thinking of having it slabbed just for preservation, but I’m worried it’ll come back as damaged because of that split on Lady Liberty’s head. Regardless. It’s far and away the oldest coin I own! Let alone have received in change! Thank you so much for providing this service to anyone that asks. It’s awesome

I didn’t know it was possible to find large Cents, I thought they were withdrawn shortly after the introduction of the Flying Eagle Cent.

[JTCC]

I can’t believe this thread popped up now. Last week at an airport mini-mart, I was handed this coin as a $1 in part of my change. Hopefully you can see from the pics, it’s a 1798 Large Cent.I think. Honestly, I didn’t think about it until I emptied my pockets later that night. I’ve never been so shocked. I just hope someone didn’t spend it by mistake. Was thinking of having it slabbed just for preservation, but I’m worried it’ll come back as damaged because of that split on Lady Liberty’s head. Regardless. It’s far and away the oldest coin I own! Let alone have received in change! Thank you so much for providing this service to anyone that asks. It’s awesome

I didn’t know it was possible to find large Cents, I thought they were withdrawn shortly after the introduction of the Flying Eagle Cent.

Yes, that is true. My theory is that in some extremely rare circumstances, large cents get dumped in modern day coin counters, which sometimes would take large cents as half dollars due to their similar size. Those then went on to get rolled by banks and distributed.

[Earle42]

I can’t believe this thread popped up now. Last week at an airport mini-mart, I was handed this coin as a $1 in part of my change. Hopefully you can see from the pics, it’s a 1798 Large Cent.I think. Honestly, I didn’t think about it until I emptied my pockets later that night. I’ve never been so shocked. I just hope someone didn’t spend it by mistake. Was thinking of having it slabbed just for preservation, but I’m worried it’ll come back as damaged because of that split on Lady Liberty’s head. Regardless. It’s far and away the oldest coin I own! Let alone have received in change! Thank you so much for providing this service to anyone that asks. It’s awesome

I didn’t know it was possible to find large Cents, I thought they were withdrawn shortly after the introduction of the Flying Eagle Cent.

See the photo comparison I made above with that large cent. I did just a bit of research, but am thinking it's a Chinese copy. The info as to why is in my post. Unless they used more than one die in 1798 to make the REV of 1797 variety, and all of the PCGS coinfact examples of this coin are not showing more than one die, then I believe it's a fake. Someone who is a large cent specialist may know something I do not.

[Andrew212]

Thank you for that info Earl. I’ve done what you said and compared it on PCGS’ site. Weighed the coin, it’s 10.80 grams, and PCGS has it supposed to be 10.89gm, also I’m 98% sure it’s the 2nd Hairstyle. PCGS has arrows pointing at the way the curls turn on Lady Liberty’s head, which my coin matches. I also believe you are correct in the Rev of ‘97, as I compared my coin to PCGS’ examples. To be honest it feels real, the feeling in your hand, the color, the wear patterns, all of that. I’m going to send it in to have it at least slabbed in case it is real. No body bag!!

[Earle42]

Before sending it in, if you want to keep the cash in your own pocket:
1. See if there is a 2nd hair style OBV mated with an 1897 REV shown on that site. If not, it becomes even more probable its a fake.

2. Check out the PCGS slabbed 1897 pennies and see if the REV on your penny is identical to ANY of the 1897 REVs shown in those pictures. If yours is its own 1897 pattern, then again you have a vote towards fake.

3. Post this at coincommunity.com in the proper section. They have large cent specialists there who probably, from experience in their specialty area, can tell you if yours is a legit variety.

And unless you are sending to ANACs, you are talking about spending a lot of money!

This forum is to help people learn about coins. I like being able to help them find the ways to ID their own things without defaulting to paying a company to do so just b/c the more you know from researching and learning, the better you know the hobby.

I will also add since most people know I have no love for the way the companies operate compared to what people think they offer, that I do trust the companies for telling fake coins. Although I also have found its not really a very hard thing to do with almost all of them when one is in hand...which is why I suspect the companies can get it right.

[2trill2kill]

Found this last week in a roll from my first box I've gotten from the bank!

[SensibleSal66]

Found this last week in a roll from my first box I've gotten from the bank!

Hello and Welcome to the community! Do you have Pics?

[Iceresistance]

I recently found a 1940-S Jefferson Nickel on the ground near the High School Ag building.