Hey guys im going threw my copper penny's tn because im super bored, Im separating the us and canadian ones. I was wondering if there is any key date us penny's I should look for ?
There are alot of Keys and Semi Keys for the Lincoln cents. I'm not going to include the Double Dies in my list. 1909-S VDB 1909-S 1909 VDB ----- Not really considered a rare and scarce date but they are worth keeping. 1910-S 1911-S 1912-S 1914-D 1914-S 1915-S 1922-D Weak D 1922 No D 1924-D 1926-S 1931-S 1960 Small and Large Dates 1970-S Small Date
And I'll add the 7 different 1982's if you like the random variety coins. These are: 1982 large date, 1982 small date, and 1982-D (large date); all in 95% copper. Then there's the 1982 large date, 1982 small date, 1982-D large date, 1982-D small date; all in copper plated zinc. All seven are very easily found, even in circulation, which is nice because you can have a small completed set. In case you were wondering 1982 was the year they switched from 95% copper cents to the Copper-zinc plated variety that all current cents are. (The percentage is 99.2% zinc.) If you have any '82's laying around an easy way to tell between copper and zinc is to balance the cent on a finger tip and LIGHTLY tap it on the edge with another coin. (Lightly so you don't ding up the cent) The copper ones will ring for a good second or so. It's a very bright ring that is tough to miss. The zinc ones sort of just 'tap'. As far as the large vs. small date varietys you will have to do some research in order to get a proper understanding.
Are you sure it's a small date? Those are pretty tricky to determine. You should probably post some pics. If it's really a small date it will be worth up to mid double digits ($xx) depending on it's grade.
ill post some pics tomorrow could you send me a link to somewhere that can help me determine small dates? thanks
Great site for information: http://www.lincolncentresource.com/ Scroll down a little bit on the home page and click "Large and Small Dates". Multiple pictures of each example on that site, however it is still somewhat difficult to determine for sure so look very, very carefully, but not too long at one time because you might see something that's not there. Hopefully you have atleast a 10x magnifier.
Look at the 9 as well as the level of the 7. On the small date the top of the 7 is level with the rest of the date. Also the bottom of the loop on the 9 points inward almost straight at the 7. The 9 is probably easier to tell though. On the large date the top of the 7 is lower than the rest of the date and the loop on the 9 points more towards the mint mark. It is quite tough to tell, especially if the example is not the greatest.
