Why Your Pocket Change Might Be Older Than You Think

The next time you fish a quarter out of your couch cushions, take a closer look at the date. There's a decent chance that coin has been making the rounds since before you were born. According to the U.S. Mint, the average coin remains in circulation for about 30 years before it's finally too worn out to use.

Thirty years. That's roughly 11,000 days of being dropped, rubbed, stacked, vended, and pocketed. It's thousands—possibly millions—of transactions, from gumball machines to parking meters to cash registers across the country.

Built to Last (And Last, And Last)

Coins aren't just stamped metal discs—they're engineered for endurance. Most modern U.S. coins are made from copper-nickel alloys or zinc cores with copper plating, materials chosen specifically because they can withstand decades of abuse. Quarters and dimes, with their harder metal compositions, are particularly resilient. Pennies get handled more frequently but are designed to take a beating.

The durability is so impressive that coins from the 1940s and 1950s occasionally still turn up in circulation, ancient veterans that somehow avoided retirement for 70+ years.

The Journey of a Coin

Once minted, coins enter a remarkably efficient recycling system. New coins account for less than 20% of all coins in active circulation—the rest are just old soldiers still on duty. When you deposit coins at a bank, they get sorted, counted, and sent right back out into the world unless they're too damaged.

The Federal Reserve is the referee in this process, pulling coins from circulation when they become too worn, corroded, or damaged to be useful. But "too worn" is a pretty high bar when you're built to last three decades.

The Numbers Game

Think about what 30 years of circulation actually means:

• A coin minted in 1995 is still doing its job in 2025
• Your "old" change might have passed through tens of thousands of hands
• The same nickel could have bought a candy bar for a kid in the '90s and a parking meter minute today

Meanwhile, paper currency doesn't stand a chance. A $1 bill lasts about 6.6 years, a $5 bill around 4.7 years, and a $10 bill just 5.3 years. Coins outlive paper money by a factor of five or more, which is why vending machines and laundromats aren't going anywhere.

So that handful of change jingling in your pocket? It's not just money—it's a collection of tiny time travelers, each one carrying three decades of economic history in its scratches and dings.