The first of the four new Lincoln pennies was released on Lincoln’s birthday more than a month ago but why can't you find any in Rochester?Joy McComb was on a mission today. “My grandson is doing a report on Abraham Lincoln.” She came to the Gallery of Coins just to find the new Lincoln penny. “My husband won't even carry pennies. He thinks they should be dispensed with.”
A coin dealer is about the only place you can find the new Lincoln, the first in a series that honors the 16th president's life. The first new design on the reverse or tails side shows the log cabin Lincoln grew up in.
Dick Austin of Gallery of Coins said, “I called the banks I do business with. I had a couple customers called their banks and I also had dealers from out of state as far away as Texas call their banks and none of the new banks have the new pennies available.”
A roll of 50 pennies at a bank should cost 50-cents. “These were gotten about a week ago at the Albany coin show and there price there was $6 a roll,” Austin said.
Austin has two-roll sets from both the Philadelphia and Denver mints and he's selling them for 50-cents each. He said he won’t sell them by the roll because he wants as many customers as possible to get them.
The U.S. Mint coined more than 600-million new pennies but few have made it into circulation. Austin says, “I think it's a shame because there's no reason that a child who's just learning about coin collecting, should have to go out and pay 50-cents for a penny. He should be able to get them at the banks but unfortunately, the mint doesn't see it the same way I do.”
And what about that school project? McComb said, “And I thought ideally we would let him hand one out to each students in his class but since I had to pay top dollar, or penny, as you might say.”
News 10NBC checked with a local bank today who said the Federal Reserve isn't distributing the Lincoln pennies in several northeast states, including New York.
We called the Federal Reserve in New York City and they referred us to Washington. The feds do have the new pennies but we were told the banks can't order just the new Lincolns even if their customers are demanding them. If a bank orders pennies, it's whatever the guys on the shipping dock send.
The new pennies can not even be ordered from the U.S. Mint. The mint had the two-roll sets -- 50 coins each from the Philadelphia and Denver mints for $8.95 plus $4.95 shipping but all 96-thousand collector sets have sold out.
Source: whec.com
