Mass Removal of U.S. Silver, Special and Failed Issues

Why people hoard special coin issues is not really understood. People bring me Sacagawea, Bicentennial coins and other special issues that have no numismatic value in circulated conditions, believing they have rare coins. In this article we look at the special issues from the Mint and try to provide some insight, along with failed issues such as the $1 coin and the $2 bill.

Many articles have been written about the alloy change from 90 percent silver coins in 1964 to the clad coinage of the present day. Articles correctly attribute the shortage of silver in the United States to the rising prices of silver, which caused people to hoard silver coins dated before 1965.

There were plenty of silver coins dating back to the 1930s and before in circulation until around 1968. By 1968, most silver coins were gone from circulation because of the rush to gather the silver issues and sell the coins for silver content. The permanent end of circulating silver coins came in the early 1970s, along with inflation. Inflation caused goods and services to rise sharply, and as a hedge against inflation, investors