Unless they were collected (eg: the H's KN's and ME's of this world) absolutely. The vast majority would have been totally unaware, for example, of many varietal types of Edward VII and George V & VI. Hence, as I referenced in an earlier post, why some which are now extremely rare, were never collected pre demonetisation. Some weren't identified until Freeman's time, and the enthusiastic collectors of the mid to late 60's were probably using those small "Check your Change" booklets, which, whilst obviously very useful, did not cover the lesser known varieties. So they nearly all disappeared in the melt and probably many more in the subsequent unofficial melts which still go on to this day.
Having now got nearly a full complement of Coin Monthly's from November 1966 to February 1971, it's also noteworthy that there is absolutely no mention whatsoever, in the sales ads, of many of the 20th century Freeman types we now know so well. A 1913 penny, for instance, was a 1913 penny. No more than that.