Why so many 1980 pennies?

[Guest]

I search through pennies at work and I also coin roll hunt, and I find a lot of 1980s. I see a lot more of them than I do the years surrounding 1980. I thought it might be because a lot more pennies were minted in 1980, but here are the mintages from 1977 to 1983, if my math is correct:

1977: 8,667,243,452
1978: 9,841,966,181
1979: 10,161,549,429
1980: 12,558,358,466
1981: 12,869,048,760
1982: 16,729,361,847
1983: 14,222,833,554

There were more pennies minted from 1981-1983 than there were in 1980. Why is it that I see so many 1980s?

[Maineman750]

How many of each year do you find ?

[enamel7]

Your area may have just had more of that year shipped to it. Also, more people may have hoarded that year and recently released those "cents" into circulation.

[bugo]

How many of each year do you find ?

I don't keep count, but I find 2-3 per roll.

[mustbebob]

Questions like that are really very difficult, if not impossible to answer. You are talking about the circulation or hoarding of coins over a 30 year period. Consider that you are talking about billions of coins from that time period, it is not surprising at all to find 2 or 3 a roll. Next year, you may not find any.

[Clutchy]

Im in NYC, and I seem to get a lot of 1983 cents, compared to the other years, but Im not complaining

[flyhi3]

Like others, some years seem more prevalent in my area. 1976 seems to be the year here. I think there are just too many factors affecting though, to really give a reason.

[BadThad]

I find more 1982 LDC's than anything else....hands down.