My CRH setup and process - what's yours?

For the last 25 years I would typically gather coins over several years, then go through them en masse every few years. I did it mainly because I travelled for work and would have long stretches where I just didn't have the time. The travel stopped for good a couple of years ago and at the first of this year I started going through what I had recently (last 5 years) accumulated. I finished the cents several months ago and the nickels last week. I do a preliminary sort putting the best-looking prospects into plastic cups (one per decade)



I will set aside any that MIGHT be errors (into the tray of the lamp), then once finished I will check them out. Most end up being just PMD or extremely minor, and back into the wild they go. But a few make it into 2x2s. I will post a couple on the Error forum in a bit.



The cup on the far left is for 50s and earlier, the next for 60s and so on around the desk. I put some wadded up paper towels in the bottom and set the coins in without letting them hit hard. Since I am only picking the best-looking coins, they don't fill up much. These cups were from a local hockey game, a promotion where a lot of fans left them, and I brought a bunch home. They stack well, but the handle keeps them from going all of the way down, so when I need to clear the desk to work, I can stack them up and put them aside without contacting the coins inside.

The cup on the far right is for the rejects, and whenever it fills up, I will dump them out and roll them up to return to the bank. My bank doesn't have a machine, and they require them to be rolled. I re-use the rolls that the coins come in; I don't break them up when I take them out, and I get new ones from the bank as needed (they do not charge for them). Newer machine rolled coins can be a bit difficult to get out, but it's doable, and then getting the rejects back into the tight roll is tough but can be done. Then the roll gets marked with an X. There are several other searchers that use the same bank, and we all mark them, then when we get new rolls, we politely ask the teller to not give us any marked ones. You get some odd looks, but they are usually very helpful. I went through nearly 150 rolls of nickels this time, plus a lot of loose coins.









For me this is enjoyable, and relaxing. I have worked in manufacturing my entire adult life where every day is fixed and rigid, start early and work late. I have always had a bit of OCD, and this just works to level things out for me.

 

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I will look out for your post

 

I get boxes of pennies and nickels at my main bank. I'm trying to accumulate as many penny boxes while I can before they do away with them. I go a couple times a month to the laundromat and load up on quarters. Once I've filled up one of my cloth crown royal sacks I take them to my credit union where I can use their machine for free. I think it's a pretty good system.

 

Sounds good to me. I have a bottle of crown in one of those sacks, should hold quite a few quarters! How many boxes of pennies do you have?

 

Those sacks are great. They hold well over $400 in quarters. You have to be careful when they're full and carry them on the bottom. I have 3 boxes of pennies so far and I'm do to get 2 more next Friday. I even told the branch manager why I want to accumulate so many and he was good with it. I think my bank is going to get some pizzas or doughnuts or something soon. Lol

 

Yeah, it pays off to be kind to the tellers. Since my bank requires rolling, I try to only bring in about 30 or fewer rolls at a time. They use trays that hold 10 rolls, and the typical teller is a twenty something young lady, and they have to put them in a large drawer at ground level. Three of those trays can weigh about 13 or 14 pounds, more than they are used to lifting.

 

Going through 150 rolls of nickels, I hope you took the time to look for Hennings nickels. Excellent value for counterfeit coins.

 

I absolutely do now, at least for the past 10 years or so. Before then I was not aware of them so hopefully I didn't let any go. If I did, they would have gone to one of my nieces/nephews, as I put together a set of coins for each of them from my extras back in 2010. I only get maybe 10 or so each run earlier than 1960 and still have all of them.

When I first go through the rolls and loose change, if it is a pre 60 it goes into the 50s cup. After finishing everything I go through that first and spend a little extra time checking them out. I started on dimes this weekend and will add to this post more as I go through them with the process.