I just received an intersting call from my husband. Apparently one of the gentlemen that works for him has been saving up his change for quite some time and just brought in $100 worth of nickels and dimes for my hubby to bring home for me to sort through. I gather in all that he has several hundred dollars worth of change and thought that I might like to peek through it a bit at a time instead of him just taking and dumping it all off at a Coin Star machine My question is this...What exactly am I looking for when cherrypicking through nickels and dimes? Unfortunately I don't have the Cherrypicker's Guide so any and all help y'all can offer will be greatly appreciated. I'm sure eventually he'll start sending the cents and quarters as well so if you can expand on those denominations also that will save me from having to post again when he brings home the next haul. Now my next problem will be finding the time to sort through them all! Never enough hours in the day Thanks! Robin
Do you have a Red Book, Robin? If so, then you can at least get an idea of what dates are worth looking for. If you have a Breen encyclopedia, some varieties are listed in there. Although Breen is an expensive book, it is very handy to have if you can get it. You may want to check your local library to see what reference books they have available also. I would suggest separating the coins into denomination first. Joe could even help you with that part - I bet he would just love it. Then I would concentrate on one denomination at a time. Hope this helps.
There are a ton of things to look for. Rather than list all the varieties, I would submit that your inspection of each coin would be done with a bright light (60-100 watt) fairly close by, usually you will want the light in front of you so it will reflect off the coin towards your eye. Use a 3x-7x loupe, being sure to look at each letter and numeral, including the mintmark. Also, check all the design elements. Look for doubling, especially on the seraphs of letters and numbers. Look for doubling on the eyes and ears. Also, check the rim and edge for anomalies. Sometimes, the fields might show something struck into it or evidence of a die clash or being struck through something, so a quick glance there would be a good idea. Anything unusual, set it aside for closer inspection later. At first, this will take about 15-30 seconds per coin, but after the first hundred or so, it'll start going pretty fast, maybe about 5 seconds per coin. When you finish the initial inspection, go back through the set aside group for closer inspection. If you have any questions, you know where to go.
Hello Joesmom to go thru a pile of coins is a daunting thing, the redbook will give you some of the known varieties of all the denoms ,,, but !!!! each coin must be examined, My method involves three catagories, Coins I may wish to add to my circulated collection ,in my case that would be any wheat cents,,some of the Memorials and some of the dimes,,I especially keep any Philly coins of the current coinage that are in good shape they are hard to come by here for some reason. I also keep anything decent from 1970 back especially all the S mint coins Second: any errors that I may find, I have started keeping all anomolies,, Doubled, machine or hub, filled die with completely missing design or lettering,, you see what I mean here. It kind of developes itself as to what you may want to keep. and third a pile to be rolled and returned !! Hope this helps a little, I go thru about 5,000 cents a week, but that is just me !!
I'm not very familiar with the recent nickels and dimes. The best advice is probably to invest a few dollars in a blue folder and save the best one of each. There are some varieties to look for like a 1982 dime without a mintmark and 1969-D an '80-D with repunched mint marks. There's also a great '68 DDO dime which can be found. This one has the doubling most prominent on the date. There are several different types of 1982 nickels but some of these are hard to pick up in circulated condition.
What is special about the 'S' mmint mark on nickels. I have a 1969 s Jefferson in my pocket. Didn't see anything from a a PCGS pricing perspective that made me think about keeping it. Should I? (Sorry, a bit inexperienced..)
Robin, are you saying that you're expected to go through all this change to cherrypick for him or for you? If it's for him, he'd better be a REALLY, REALLY good friend...
Susan...Yes, I have a Redbook and a Breen book as well. I'm just hoping for the highlights of what to look for as I don't want to be sorting until I'm grey . You can be sure that I'll be enlisting Joe's help as well, but I'll need to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't start trying to use it all to fill up his Bank in a Book. Even Daddy's pocket change at the end of the day isn't safe on the counter with Joe around Tanner...LOL, it is for me. My husband paid him for the change since he was just going to dump it at the bank anyway...so whatever I find I get to keep . But apparently I need to figure out a decent system for doing this efficiently as it sounds like he'd like to bring in a big bag about once a week. Thanks so much for all of the tips on what to look for. Please keep them coming! Robin
You could also look for cuds. These are blobs of raised metal around the rim area caused by a piece breaking off of the die. You can see cuds pretty easy. Most of the time you don't even need a glass or loupe.
Skane I like the S mint coinage,, I collect the small cents, Im not saying that they will ever be worth more than any other Mint mark, just something I like to keep.
OK guys! I need to pick your brains some more. Today he's bringing home a big bag of quarters. Can you tell me of any major goodies to be on the lookout for? Varieties, etc?? Thanks!
Robin, give me a call when hubby brings home a bag of Japanese, Korean and/or Chinese stuff. (I'll be the most help on Japanese, of course.)
Some Statehood Quarters were accidentally made with disoriented Dies.Normally the reverse appears upside down when the coin is rotated from right to left. Anything with an S mintmark is a proof with lower mintage. Of coarse keep your eyes open for the silver too. I have been collecting nickels and I look for the dates that list as higher prices in MS-63. It would seem to me that would be a good idea with Quarters also.They may only be worth a buck or two or three but I figure it isn't for me it is for my kids and someday those values will be multiplied. Digger
