I was Just curious... What are the odds of finding an indian cent while searching through rolls? Thanks
searching current bank rolls? very, very small ... but it is possible i would guess one in a couple of thousand of dollars...
It's probably a little more than 1,000,000:1 if you think of all the memorial cents out there and then all the wheats that are still floating around, and then if you are lucky then you might find one.
I don't have my books in front of me, but for anyone who does, here's how to find out: [Total mintage of all IHC up to 1909 divided by total mintage of all Lincoln cents 1909 to 2006], which equals the percentage chance of finding an IHC in one roll of cents. All told, it's going to be a very low chance.
Not found in a roll,but got a 1887 IHC in change about a year ago. First one since the 70's,pure dumb luck i guess.
In bank rolls? Probably 1 in 100,000 cents or so but if someone had recently cashed in a jar of coins found in the garage dating from the 60's or so I would think the odds would be better but still a long shot. In circulation I would think the odds would be 1 in 1,000,000 or so. Just guessing of course.
The funny thing is that a lot of coin shops,mine included,sell G-VG Indian head cents for $1 in a counter basket or bin.I was very excited to find my first wheat cent in change since I was a kid (1947) a couple of days ago until I realized I could buy a nice one for almost nothing. I really admire people who search rolls and go out metal detecting,but personally,I don't have the patience.If I lived in England though,I'd be the president of the local detector's club..LOL
I think my addition is way off... Here is what I got 1804421547/403521259853=.004472 four out of a thousand would be nice... but It can't be true. (I know this because yesterday I went through over a 2 thousand). I suppose you have too keep in mind that I did not have any values for 2003-2006 because I was using an out of date Red Book.
I think you're more right than these mintages would suggest. One reason might be that more indians are removed from circulation once they're found. Probably due to the fact that they're so easily recognizable and distinguishable, and on both sides, as compared to, say, the wheats, which are only distinguishadle from the lincolns on one side.
That only works if all the Lincolns and all the indian head pennies are in circulation. They're not. Indian head pennies are quickly pulled from circulation as are most wheat pennies. I believe one of the penny searchers here went through 200k pennies and found 3 indian heads. That should give you some sort of idea.
The odds are the odds. If you find a way to calculate how many IHCs and LCs are pulled OUT of circulation, you let me know!
well then you would also have to find a way to figure out the number of lincolns stored in jars, piggy banks, thrown out.....
The kindergarten answer to that is what I just said relative to the comparitive recognizability of the indians as compared to the wheats and lincolns. The indians can be recognized as rare coins whether you're looking on the front or the back. As such it stands to reason more of these will be pulled from circulation than wheats which can only be recognized as distinguishable on one side and lincolns which need to be date and mintmark examined in order to know you have a coin worth pulling.
The indians are disproportionately pulled, that's about all that can be said. Next are the wheats, and last are the lincolns. Quantify that down to the cent? Can't do / impossible.
