During the last and very busy week, I planned and plotted to take a long lunch so that I can visit the US Mint kiosk at Union Station to purchase rolls of the new Formative Years, or Rail Splitter 2009 Lincoln Cents. I arranged to meet a friend who was not a collector who would buy six rolls, give them to me, and I would buy lunch.

When I arrived, there was a long line. My friend and I waited over a half-hour to purchase the rolls. The scene caught the attention of The Washington Post who filed a story about the sale.

After my friend and I purchased 12 rolls of the new Lincoln Cents, we had nice lunch at a restaurant in Union Station.

What I should have done is what the collector did in the Post’s story: taken the rolls to the post office to have them stamped and post marked. Apparently, there are collectors willing to pay a premium for rolls with proof of first day of issue.

All of the rolls sold at Union Station and on Friday at the Rayburn House Office Building were from the Philadelphia Mint. Maybe I can trade a roll with someone who has rolls from the Denver Mint. I promised one roll to someone who could not be at the pickup and one roll will be used at my coin club for sale of individual coins to members. The other nine rolls will probably go on sale so I can make back the money I paid for lunch!