I went to my bank and branches of three other banks to look for rolls of Martin Van Buren dollars and Lincoln Birth and Early Childhood cents. I know that the William Henry Harrison dollars are the current issue, but I was not able to find Van Buren dollars when they were in active release.
One bank I went to had just emptied the cent bags from its coin counting machine. The teller showed me the three bags of cents that will be sent to their contractor to be counted and sent back to the Federal Reserve. They did have Harrison Dollars and some John Quincy Adams dollars, but no Van Burens. A teller in another bank showed me a box of cent rolls they just received from the Federal Reserve. All the rolls had mixed coins, no new cents.
I also asked for District of Columbia quarters. Only one bank had a roll.
I have heard that Lincoln cents have started to be found in pocket change west of the Rockies and DC Quarters in the northern midwest states. But friends living throughout the Northeast Corridor have not found any of these coins in change.
Last year, I found my first 2008 coin in mid-June. Other than the special distribution of dollars and quarters, I don’t expect to see 2009 coins until June or July.