When I began research for my book, "United States Clad Coinage," I realized that some recent dates did not show up in circulation. There were billions of 1965, 1966, and 1967 dated dimes and quarters, but afterward, the production slowed down a bit. No one cared about clad coins in change, since they were not silver. Long before the Statehood Quarters, I tried to encourage collecting clads out of circulation for the fun of it.

The 1968 and 1969 quarters were hardly ever seen in the months I searched for different dates. I also found the 1969-P and 1973-P dimes were hard to find. The 1982 and 1983 quarters, too, were not seen often. When they were found, they often looked battered. These dates received some publicity, as there were no official mint sets sold those years.

Coin World editor Beth Deisher gave me the idea of a "circulation poll," a documentation of the dates and mintmarks I found in change. I did this for months and got many rolls of coins from area banks. As I expected, the first three years of clad coins turned up frequently (and still do) but not the following two years. A bank teller friend found a 1968-D quarter, and asked me if she should keep it.

Which recent clad coins do not show up in change? Have you checked lately? Try your own circulation poll. You may be surprised.