As the poor economy has slowed introduction of the Abraham Lincoln cabin cent into circulation, rolls of the coin are much sought-after — and worth a pretty penny.While 50-cent rolls now are drawing eBay bids of less than $10, a few forward-thinking sellers have gotten offers of up to $200, said Barry Powell, owner of Heartland Coins in Elizabethtown.
The U.S. Mint released the penny Feb. 12 in Lincoln’s birthplace of Hodgenville. Depicting his family’s cabin, it’s the first in a series of four 2009 cents that show various stages of Lincoln’s life. It’s also the first new penny in 50 years, and the release coincides with his bicentennial birthday.
Many of the 635 million cabin pennies produced by the Mint are still in the Federal Reserve. Commercial banks don’t need as many coins as they once did because of fewer retail transactions, Mint spokesman Greg Hernandez said.
Plus, people take their coins to the bank when the economy sours, Powell said. A bank with an overabundance of coins is less likely to order new ones.
An industry newsletter said it could be seven to eight months before the cents are widely circulated, Powell said.
Julie Ireland, a new accounts representative for Lincoln National Bank, said she hasn’t seen any of the new pennies reach her institution from customers.
“I figured by now maybe I’d run into a few,” she said.
It seems people around town don’t want to spend their cabin pennies. School children at the Feb. 12 event, after all, were urged to hang on to them and pass them on to their children and grandchildren.
Lincoln National ordered $5,000 for the release ceremony and has none left to give out.
Ireland said she doesn’t know when the bank will receive more. When it orders pennies, it will receive a mix — banks can’t request just cabin pennies, she said.
Lincoln National President Doc Meredith said the response for the pennies has been huge. People wanting them have called from as far away as California and Colorado.
Powell said his shop bought some from customers who attended the Hodgenville program — and, having no idea what they’d be worth, sold them all for a dollar a roll.
Some customers who bought rolls at face value during the event had them stamped and postmarked with the date and the location later in the day at the birthplace park. While eBay bids for these rolls had reached around $200, they’ve fallen to about $60, Powell said.
The Mint had offered two-roll packages for $8.95. All of these 96,000 sets have sold out.
Powell said he has been seeing them go for around $80 to $85 online.
The next Lincoln penny to be released is Abe taking a break from log splitting to read. The Mint will issue it in Lincoln City, Ind., on May 14. Later coins will represent his life in Illinois and presidency.
The Mint eventually plans to release a chronicle set — the four 2009 pennies plus a silver dollar.
For those who don’t want to go all-out: How much is a cabin cent worth if, say, they get one after paying for a drive-thru order?
“If you get it in change, it’s worth a penny,” Powell said.
Source: thenewsenterprise.com
