Yesterday I discovered 3 wheat pennies in my change. Maybe this economy is causing people to dig into their stashes of "old" coins and spend them.
Beer and cigs are necessities to many people and they will buy them any way they can. I picked up beau coup silver while working at 7-11 in the late 70's.
The current economy feels like it felt back then.
Seriously, if you have fallen out of the habit of checking your change, this might be the time to start again.
Wayne