i saw an 1860 bronze english penny, in an arcade game in london. i played the game, and eventually won the penny. it was very worn, but it was the oldest coin that i ever found. (this was in 1967.)
as i recall, one could find usa copper pennies dating back to about 1920 in the early 1960s.
“as i recall, one could find usa copper pennies dating back to about 1920 in the early 1960s.”
I was coin collecting as a kid in the late 1950s. I would still occasionally find an Indian Head Cent (1859 to 1909) in circulation. I really liked the Liberty Mercury Dime (1916 to 1945). That was one gorgeous coin and great symbolism on obverse and reverse.
I’d find a fair number of 1943 zinc-plated steel Lincoln pennies. I loved the Wheat-Sheaf pennies of the time — much more attractive than the Lincoln Memorial reverse.
The silver Franklin Half Dollar coins (1948-1963) were plentiful.
My favorite, though, was my grandpa pulling real silver dollars out of my ears! My grandparents weren’t well off and lived in a small mobile home, but he’s still find those silver dollars in my ears and give them to me! Unfortunately, I spent them when I reached high school. Young and foolish! My grandparents lived in a couple of small towns in Idaho and bars still had slot machines, so silver dollars were common there. It wasn’t unusual to find a Morgan Silver Dollar (1878-1921) still in circulation.
Coins seemed to stay in circulation a lot longer back then.