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Coin Production Numbers

squirrel1

Well-known member
Do you ever think about what the coin finds look like big picture wise??? Believe it on not I have been reviewing this forum and other forums as it relates to finds and the numbers of finds. Looking at the different detecting forum sites and sub sites talking about the different brands of detectors I got curious. I actually took out my coin book and actually tabulated all US quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies minted between the period of 1892 and 1916. The only reason I chose these dates is these dates include the barber quarter and dime years. Here are the numbers:
Years 1892-1916

Quarters.............266,500,000
Dimes.................291,000,000
Nickels................709,500,000
Pennies...........1,756,000,000

As you can see the quarter and dime numbers are not that different. In my thinking, dimes are smaller and more of them should have been lost when compared to quarters (i.e.smaller hole in pocket versus larger hole). And since 30 million more dimes were minted, in a perfect metal detecting world one would think maybe more dimes would be detected than quarters. Unfortunately, this metal detecting world is not perfect. Common sense says maybe a dime would sink faster than a quarter since ts smaller, however the dime is also lighter...who really knows. Not to mention dimes are smaller therefore their reflectivity is generally less than a quarter. Look at nickels, my,my there were literally 2.5 times more of them made when compared to dimes or quarters. But how many nickels are actually found???I would venture a guess based on the different forums and my own experience-- there are less nickels found than dimes. The composition of a nickel is the culprit. Low conductor means it takes a higher frequency to get reflectivity and in doing so depth is lost. And let's not forget about the pull tab and tin foil. Target ID on nickels using even the best nickel machine out there is very dicey when you add a little depth. Last the penny, no wonder so many are found almost 2 billion minted. Ever wonder what 1,756,000,000 pennies would weigh??
 
I had no idea that more nickels were minted than quarters and dimes. If there's a correlation between how many nickels were minted and how many were lost the numbers indicate those who primarily hunt coins are either not digging nickel range signals or are discing them out, but almost 42 years of digging almost every nickel range signal I've swung over makes me think there's more to it. My percentage of nickels found compared to dimes and quarters found has always been right on 20 percent, and after a post on another forum a few years ago I've periodically checked the change my wife and I receive when shopping and it's also usually around 20 percent. That makes me think at least part of reason that fewer nickels are found just might be because fewer are in circulation, or at least fewer are being carried in change.

[attachment 206985 102nickels.jpg]
 
squirrel1 said:
Ever wonder what 1,756,000,000 pennies would weigh??

If Google calculator is to be believed, 12,039,796.9 pounds or 6,019.9 U.S. tons :)

Jerry
 
I often think of related topic and the fact that more dimes pennies are found than any other coin. I mostly atribute this to the physical size. Just think of droppping a dime in the grass... not easy to find. However, imagine a silver dollar dropped, fairly easy to find. Also, I think that there are not many silver dollars in the ground due to the value back in the old days. If someone lost a silver dollar, they probably spent a lot of time looking for it; probably finding it due to its size and luster. I also think this is the reason that most early coins found are large cents, not silver. Ever think about this? HH Mike
 
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