No, I don't collect nuts and bolts. But, I would like to discuss some of the more mundane aspects of coin collecting -- such as materials, supplies, methods. Right now I have my whole coin collection spread out on the floor, plus the bags of loose coins (mostly cents) that I've been throwing in my coin jar for years. I need to organize and sort, but the tast seems so overwhelming that at most I end up picking up a handful and looking through them just for fun, but then put them all back where they were -- in other words, no sorting. I don't have the "set-up" yet established for how to sort and organize. So... I'd like to get your ideas, your strategy, how you deal with a large bag of coins, and what you do to sort them, etc. Tubes? Cups? Muffin tins? ??? I've got some tubes and boxes ordered an coming, but I'm sure I will need more tools/supplies. What works for you?
Dot, What I do is look at the coins one by one with a magnifying glass. Then I sort the ones i want to keep and the ones i dont. Then put them in 2x2 holders. These hold a single coin with a visable plastic sheeth over the coin. Safe reliable and good storage. Then the ones i dont want to keep i return to the bank get money and buy coins. A giant cycle! Peter
Hi Peter, So, each coin goes into a 2x2 and then you label it? Then, where do you store the 2x2s, and how do you keep them organized? I have too too too many coins (mainly cents) to do this with at this stage -- maybe after I get rid of 90% of them. The other thing is that how do you determine which features to look at? For example, unless you know everything about every date and mint (varieties etc), how do you decide that a coin is just a regular coin of no interest? I find that every time I look through a group of coins, I look at something different, maybe a new type of error I have read about etc. I'm just feeling overwhelmed right now, not knowing where to start. It was easier when I was a kid and all I had was my coin album to fill in -- all I did was look at the date and whether there was an empty hole in my book
I'm assuming you are talking about large batches of circulated coins, and I want to emphasize: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME WITH AU , MS OR PROOF COINS! Separate the coins by denomination. Line up several paper cups, those plastic glasses they give you in motel rooms, or any similar containers. Place the coins iin separate cups by decade. Resort each decade into separate cups by year. Make individual piles of each year by mintmark. Examine each coin for grade, error and/or variety, and decide whether to put it in a roll, a 2x2, an airtite or other individual holder, an album or folder, or either a "back to the bank" or junk silver bag. Wellah - you're done. I repeat: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME WITH AU , MS OR PROOF COINS! You read, study, read some more, compare the pictures in books like the Redbook, the Cherry Pickers Guide, etc., to the coins you hve, then you go read some more. After a while, you get the hang of it.
Thanks Satootoko. That's sort of the basic strategy I was thinking about, and I have actually even done it with my AU/BU coins (oops!!). I got a few of those little plastic boxes with dividers (such as for nails/screws etc) and have started sorting into those, but I need more, or another strategy. I was thinking of little paper cups, too. I like the boxes with dividers because they have a cover that can snap shut so I can stack them away. I've been basically doing a first rough sort, by decade. Then, by year, and rolling by year. Then, when all my cents are rolled, I will read read read and read more about specific details per year, then open the rolls and sort by mint mark and look them over carefully. That's my plan anyway. But again, I get stuck at the first step, sorting through the massive bags of loose change. Seems there would be a market for a properly designed sorting setup thing. Although, I'm a DIY kind of person and like improvising and getting other people's ideas about what they use.
Here's a thought I'll toss out there, not sure if it is practical or absurd, but: I was looking around the house, trying to find anything that would be useful for sorting/storing coins. I have a stack of slide carousels, the kind you put in a projector (to view slides). The slots are the size of the coin holder things. And they are numbered, and there is a numbered blank page for writing on. I was wondering if, when I actually get my coins into holders, if this is a good idea for storing them, for easy retrieval? It seems a bit bulky, but at least each box wouldn't be too heavy since each one would only hold 80 coins. Good idea or insane?
What I do is divide by year and denomination. Throw culls in a reject bin all together. Even small piles on a spare bed does fine for me. Then as soon as I can I get folders or albums (Dansco) and get sets started with the best coins. Once sets are started a sense of organization develops. Then I concentrate on one thing, like quarters for example, and go through every quarter while filling the album. It helps to cull out and reject while plodding ahead. Then move to something else like dimes until I go through all my dimes. Duplicates that are keepers go in 2X2s. everyone has their own style, but getting sets going helps clear the clutter. For instance on my Kennedy halfs I have 5 different sets and a 3 ring notebook with those clear 20 pocket pages to hold extras in their 2X2s.
Roy's suggestion of using paper cups is probably the best suggestion. Before you figure out how to store the coins, you probably have to figure out how many are worth keeping. It will obviously require a different method depending on whether you have 50 or 1000 "keepers." The method suggested will also probably help you decide if you want to keep a set of low value coins in Whitman folders or some equivalent form. I do this for fun even though the individual coins aren't worth much more than face value in many cases. So do the sorting routine first before you commit to a storage system. It took me the better part of a year to get myself organized to the point where I was fairly satisfied. It really helps to start to get rid of the coins that have no special characteristics to make them worth saving. In a very real sense, the smaller your collection gets, the better it will be.
This is very true, and it's what motivated me to drag everything out and start going through it. Some coins I have several rolls of, for example the 1943 steel cents. Most are not in great condition, but not horrible either. I'm wondering if I should hold onto them, and if so why? A part of me wants to toss them all into circulation, just for kicks. I've got at least 20 rolls of these. They are just not very appealing coins to me. Thanks for the suggestions. What I just did was put some paper cent tubes into an empty kleenex box (5x10 fits nicely) and have started using that. I now understand how good coins get back into circulation, because I've been tempted more than once to just haul these all to a coin sorter, or the bank, or something, and just be done with it (but then I regain my sanity). But I bet some people just do that, even knowing there are above-face value coins in the batch.
Here's what I use for tools: - 30x jeweler's loupe for magnification ($6 on eBay I think.) - Lamp. - Couch. - Coins (duh ) - jar (for putting the 'just face value' ones in.) - Red Book. - My coin collection tray. Here are my searching and sorting methods: - Pour the coins out of the bank coin rolls (I'm a roll-searcher) into my hand. - Check the date and mint of the coin. - See if it's a key-date in the Red Book (most of which I actually have memorized.) - If I find something that's key date, I use my loupe to double-check for things like double-dies, double-ears, wide-AMs. - If it's a key-date or otherwise worth more than face value, I keep it and put it aside. If not, it gets put in the coresponding coin jar. Personal stuff: - If I see a coin that looks very good, shiney, yet uncleaned no matter what the year I keep it aside and bag it up later. - I keep all coins that are 1969 and earlier (even though generally they aren't worth anything more than something from the 70's, I just feel that the 1960's was long enough ago that the coins are reaching that 50-year milestone and I might as well start pulling them from circulation before everyone else does.) BTW, I've only been collecting for a month or so, so I'm a newbie. But I hope that my amateur advice helps you out! Good luck!
I'd put them on ebay. Granted, they aren't going to bring a lot but you should be able to get 4 to 5 cents for wheaties and the steelies will bring a bit more. Roll them up and sell them in lots and you should do okay. If you put them back into circulation you only get face value.
Yeah, but don't forget the entertainment value of the reactions when you give "obsolete" coins to the geniuses behind fast food, grocery store, and home center cash registers.
Personally, I would never spend wheat cents or steel cents. If you really don't want them, bring them to a local coin dealer and trade them for store credit to get something you really want. This would be a good compromise between throwing them away [in th numismatic sense] by spending them at face value, and going through the time-consuming trouble of selling them on Ebay. At least that's what I would do.
I can't even find a penny with the wheat back in my change. Have all of these been recalled by the mint, or something?
The last wheat back cent was minted in 1958 and collectors have been pulling them out of circulation ever since. So you don't find them in your pocket change very often.
the easiest way for me is to invest into a dansco album for the 'investment quality' coins, whitman folders for the junks, and the duplicates go into coffee mugs marked cents, nickels, ect... I also keep some 2x2's handy for random curiosities. Then I clean house a few times and get rid of a some duplicates. although i have the problem of 'the more i collect the more i want to keep them'.
