2009 Jefferson Nickels and Roosevelt Dimes

I am just returning from a brief vacation. While I was away, several readers left comments about a surprising development reported in Coin World. The US Mint announced that they have ended officially production of 2009 Jefferson Nickels and 2009 Roosevelt Dimes.

According to the article, no more Jefferson Nickels or Roosevelt Dimes will be struck for circulation at either the Denver or Philadelphia Mints for the remainder of 2009. The production of remaining circulating coins will continue, but "in reduced numbers."

The most surprising aspect of the story is that the US Mint is announcing the end of production in April. Many collectors have been expecting drastically lower coin production, but I don't think anyone thought production for two denominations would officially end this early in the year. There must be an enormous stockpile of coins at the Federal Reserve, which literally ensures that no new coins will be needed for at least the next eight months.

The US Mint's coin production page indicates that 36.00 million 2009-P Jefferson Nickels and 33.36 million 2009-D Jefferson Nickels have been produced. There has not been a nickel struck for circulation with a mintage this low since the 1959 Jefferson Nickel with 27.248 million. Last year's production figures were 287.76 million and 352.80 million for Philadelphia and Denver, respectively.

Coin production figures indicate 78.50 million 2009-P Roosevelt Dimes and 41.50 million 2009-D Roosevelt Dimes have been produced. The Denver mintage represents the lowest mintage since the 1958 Roosevelt Dime which had a mintage of 31.91 million. Last year's production figures were 413.00 million and 637.50 million for Philadelphia and Denver, respectively.

In a previous post exploring 2009 Coin Production, I specifically mentioned dimes and nickels as denominations to watch for 2009. It seemed very likely that the mintages would be the lowest in years. The coins also seemed less likely to be retained by collectors as opposed to the other denominations which feature rotating designs.

This new announcement will bring greater attention to the denominations, but no matter how much collector's scramble to acquire and hoard the coins, I still don't think they will be retained in numbers as large as the other denominations. Circulation strike cents, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins from each mint and for every design have all been (or will be) sold by the US Mint in bags or rolls. Nickels and dimes are the only 2009 circulation strike coins that the US Mint will not offer for sale directly to collectors.

The 2009 nickels and dimes also do not appear to be showing up in banks or in circulation yet. For the past several months I have been watching eBay auctions and contacting roll sellers to see if I could locate the coins. So far, I have come up completely empty.

Has anyone found any 2009 Jefferson Nickels or Roosevelt Dimes?