Once again, I've taken my old, dusty-lensed digital camera out of retirement to capture the state of the coins I've been carrying in my pocket, some as far back as 2007 (and one as recently as 2017). I've been enjoying this journey, this patience project of mine, even though the circulation on these coins is decidedly unnatural-looking
As I've speculated before, metal-on-metal rubbing seems to produce a different result than on coins which have naturally circulated (presumably from hand to hand and the quick sliding of a coin out of a till and the brief (but more gentle) rub received from being in pockets before getting spent once more. The result is a mushier appearance and since the smaller coins sometimes rotate to be edge-on with the larger coins, a bunch of pock marks are also noticed
But without further ado, this is what my pocket coins look like as of May 2021. I hardly write on this blog anymore so finding the previous entry to this series should not be difficult. I don't think I need to link to it this time...
(click on photos to enlarge)
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2007 Silver American Eagle: about 10-11 years wear
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The remnants of E PLURIBUS UNUM are just hanging on by a thread but the rims of this coin remain strong so the outer edges of the lettering, especially on the reverse, are in no danger of wear yet
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1978-D Eisenhower Dollar: about 9 years wear
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1978 Kennedy Half Dollar: 7-8 years wear
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I've noticed the wear on the larger coins tends to be much smoother than the wear on the smaller coins which have the aforementioned pock marks and often appear to be more mushed than smoothed by their artificial circulation and I'm not sure why that should be...
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1999-P Susan B. Anthony Dollar: 11-12 years wear
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Poor Susie's face looks really beat up! Hopefully it'll smooth out over time rather than become even more exaggerated...
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1999-P New Jersey State Quarter: about 11 years wear
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The hairlines on Washington are starting to blend and the reverse image is ever more silhouette-ish :-)
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2017-P New Jersey America the Beautiful Quarter: 3½ years wear
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Washington here looks even worse than Susie B! Still kinda early, though, to get a sense of wear patterns. I mean, a bunch of my coins when I first started this had been circulating for almost 6 years before I first photographed them and they still looked pretty new
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2005-P Jefferson Nickel [first issue]: 11-12 years wear
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The buffalo has gotten noticeably smoother but the horn is still plainly visible. I wonder how many years the real Buffalo Nickels had to circulate on average before that happened?
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2005-P Jefferson Nickel [second issue]: 11-12 years wear
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Still waiting for the reverse image to smooth away the lettering...
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2001-P Jefferson Nickel: 11-12 years wear
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Jefferson's got stubble he's been nicked so much!
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2009-P Jefferson Nickel: about 9 years wear
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The steps of Monticello are disappearing and the obverse looks like I've been hacking at it with a pin
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1974-S Lincoln Cent: 11-12 years wear
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The mintmark is completely unreadable which sucks but I like that the protected areas have this bluish patina to them. The wear on the memorial is enough now that the legs of the Lincoln statue within are taking wear. This coin is already more worn than any Memorial Cent I've ever encountered in circulation
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2010 Lincoln Cent: 11 years wear
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I wonder how much longer the date will be readable? And I do like that the points of wear are clearly visible. I'm still waiting for ONE CENT to become obliterated but that's still gotta be like a decade off...
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2009 Lincoln Cent [first issue]: about 9 years wear
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2009 Lincoln Cent [second issue]: about 9 years wear
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2009 Lincoln Cent [third issue]: about 9 years wear
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2009 Lincoln Cent [fourth issue]: about 9 years wear
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As with the 2010 cent from before, you can clearly see the points of heavy wear and where the protected areas still are by color alone. The unfinished Capitol is well on its way to becoming a silhouette
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Angel token: 8 years wear
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Once again, if I'm still alive and this website still exists (and ideally I'm still able to use the same camera for consistency's sake), I'll post updated photographs two years hence. I hope someone besides me is enjoying this bullshit I do
