Some Stats

Last night I didn't do any coin hunting. Instead I went for a walk with the family, mowed the lawn, and watched some TV. Meg and Henry went to his Uncle and Auntie's apartment to help them pack, so I was anxious to hear about the experience.

I did compile some statistics about my coin hobby, however.

For few months now I've been keeping track of the number of new US varieties I've found. I have a spreadsheet that details this for 2008. Obviously in 2007 I found a lot more new ones as I was just starting this whole endeavor. I have still been finding quite a bit. On average I've found 2.9 new US coins a week (this includes 2008 issues, proofs, and commemoratives). The total number of new finds for 2008, so far, is 84. Broken down by denomination that's 9 pennies, 3 nickels, 4 dimes, 14 quarters, 38 halves, and 16 dollars. By the end of 2008 the total number should be at least 100, as I still have a lot of 2008 issues to find. The most new ones I have found in one week is nine (all Franklin halves) and at one point I didn't find any new ones for three weeks straight.

Yesterday I also looked into the number of coins by denomination I have been searching. I compared the last seven months of my search to the first seven months, approximately. Excluding large dollars, three denominations are down, pennies by 52%, nickels by 63%, and dimes by 66%. Three denominations are up, quarters by 14%, halves by 347%, and small dollars by 1155% (it's hard to count these because I rarely searched them in 2007). My results have largely followed these figures, except perhaps for Mercury dimes and silver Washingtons. My success at finding both of these has seemed to have increased a bit.

Lastly, I went through the UK coins I have in my collection. Most are from roll hunting, but some older ones are from my relatives' and my travels. At some point I need to get a good book on UK coins so I understand the varieties available, circulating commemoratives, etc. I'll have to post the details soon, but I have a better collection than I thought I did. For example, I have a fairly complete (by date) small size 5 pence collection. Keeping track of what I have a don't have should make finding new ones a lot more fun.

Found: 14 pennies (1 outside Burger King, 2 at Hess, 11 at the car wash), 4 dimes (1 at CVS, 3 at the car wash), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian penny at the car wash)