I finally separated all the coins I've been saving for 7 yrs in a 5 gal. water bottle. I know I should pick through each but I don't know what to look for. Actually, I know the obvious: silver, wheat, war time, and so on but there is so much that I don't know to look for. Where can I go for the information I need? Maybe this site has what I need? Maybe I should just pick for the obvious and sell the rest, hum, what a shame.... I am sure there is a handful of you that know exactly what to do, perhaps you can share some of your expertise...? Sincerely, Z
...and then what? The man asked for specific information on what to look for, not a 5 word nothing. If someone asked you for directions on how to drive from Detroit to Las Vegas, do you think it would be sufficient to say "drive southwest"?
If you have 5 gallons of coins there must be thousands. Don't expect to do everything at one time. First, the basics, separate by type, then for each type, separate by decade. It might be helpful to have small butter tubs or Tupperware containers to hold each group. You can pick out any silver coins and store them separately. You probably won't have a great number of them so it will be easier to search through them separately. Look for 1949(P) and any 1930s quarters. For pennies in the 30's only the 31s is worth picking out. From the 40's through 1982 they have a metal value of 2.7 cents each. The 1960 small date has a small premiumIn the 90s group you can look for the Close AM 92 and the wide AM 98, 99 and 2000. For nickles, I wouldn't bother with any except the 1939D and the 42/43/44 war nickles. Any post 1964 dimes I would just spend. Same with post 1964 quarters. Same with post 1964 halves, except 1965 through 197o which are 40% silver. This all assumes that the vast majority of what you have is regular circulated coinage. Most has no premium except as noted above - unless you want to spend the hundreds of hours it would take to microscopically examine each and every coin for varieties and errors. Most pre-modern design coins will have some small to great premium value (as long as a date shows) but you can sort them all separately. Find a Red Book or some other price reference and go through each tub you've separated one at a time picking out the ones that may have extra value. It might be fun to get a few cheap cardboard albums and see if you can fill any of them. Few coins without dates have any value above face or melt, except maybe missing leg Buffalo Nickles and no-star reverse Standing Liberty Quarters which can be identified through other means as 1916
Do you feel better now? Driving southwest is the first step. Once the OP is closer to vegas, we can give more precise directions.
Yes, I do feel better now, and thank you for pointing out how you let others answer the question rather than doing it yourself. And forgive me for thinking it's an insult and a waste of time when someone asks a question and they're given a short, curt answer. Not everyone posting here knows everything about every subject, that's why questions are asked. If you have knowledge about what is asked, and you feel moved enough to answer, then you owe the questioner as complete an answer as you can give. If you don't feel that way then just move on to another post.
Davidh, I really appreciate the time you invested to give me the info I needed, I'll buy the next round buddy! (I tried posting this earlier but I don't see it posted, so excuse the double if it is so)
