How much of the silver coin...

[kontrapunktus1750]

...that we find from CRHing do you think has actually been circulating continuously (i.e., never identified and pulled from circulation on the basis of silver content) since it was minted?

 

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[BuffaloBoy]

well, if somebody passes up a silver coin back into circulation, eventually a CRH'er or somebody else would pick the coin out of circulation... but of course, there are always stolen collections, when somebody dies, their old silver gets dumped into the coinstar for face value MINUS 9.8%(OR whatever the coinstar% is)...
Makes one wonder...

 

[TimZim]

I think ALL the silver has been in banks jars what ever. Now they need the money and cash it in. I just don't know how any one can look at a walker and say. Look and old one thats cool cash it in. Its still 50 cents.

 

[cecropia_moth]

I think it really depends on the denomination. I think a lot of war nickels have probably circulated continuously. Certainly more dimes have freely circulated than quarters. This is probably due to several factors the most significant being the velocity of use. Quarters get used the most so they touch more hands and have a much, much better chance of being noticed by someone who understands what they are. I believe that the velocity of usage of dimes is less so they touch fewer hands as well as they are smaller and more difficult to recognize as being silver. My guess is however that nearly all silvers have been out of free circulation at one point or another. They end up drifting back in due to factors others have brought up -- theft, unknowing heirs cashing them in, etc., etc. Halves are different as they really don't circulate. I would think that the vast majority of them have been out of circulation for varying periods of time. When silver trade at $3.50 - $5.00/oz for a decade in the '90s - early 2000's you have to remember that 40% halves had a melt value of 55 - 60 cents so a lot of CRHer's released those back. Dealers used to pay 52 - 55 cents for those at the time so there really wasn't much incentive to save them. So with the 40% halves I would guess a lot of them have been floating around for some time.

 

[BillyOceansEleven]

Completely agree with cecropia_moth. I think most silver was pulled out of circulation within the first decade of the switch to clad. Based on accounts I have seen, a lot of people were very suspicious of the move away from silver coinage and kept any silver they had, not to the point of CRHing like we do but just keeping any in their change jars and that they would get in change. A lot of it was thrown back in after silver crashed in the 1980s, and other amounts have trickled back in as collections have been cashed back in unknowingly after a death or theft, or even knowingly by people in desperate financial situations who needed fast cash.

The amount of silver we find that has been circulating unnoticed since the change to clad is probably very low. I'd say less than 10% for halves, dimes maybe 5%, and quarters even less (1-2% at most). Remember that CRH has been around a long time (I've seen references to CRHing in the 1970s on this forum), so chances are the silver coin had been pulled at some point.

 

[Generic_Lad]

I think a lot of people notice "weird" coins (mercs, wheats, etc.) but keep them near their change jar. When they decide to cash it in at the bank's coin machine (or roll them) all the change that has spilled over from the jar including the Mercs/Wheats/etc. get dumped in there too.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Oh man, there's gotta be like, lots and lots!

 

[sitman]

Here's one true story of how a silver coin was recognized, saved, and then spent back into circulation. A few years ago, a woman I work with who knows I collect coins came to me and excitedly said, "Look what I got in change yesterday!" She then showed me a dateless Standing Liberty quarter. I offerred to buy it from her for a fair price, but she refused and told me she was going to keep it because it was neat looking. She carefully tucked it away in her purse. A week later I remembered to ask her if she had put the quarter away in a safe place. She gave me a disappointed look and told me that a couple of days after she found it she wanted to purchase some candy out of the vending machine and had accidentally spent it.