Still reviewing my accumulation I have these 2 1970 S LMC. One appears to be the Large Date and the other the Small Date. Some opinions would be appreciated. This first below I call a Small Date and the second a Large Date.
You are correct. The best way I can tell the difference quickly is the loop of the 9 is tighter and the tail of the 7 is level at the top and bottom of the 0. The weak liberty is not always a good indicator as I’ve seen LD 70 s with weak liberty in LDS. The 1974 LD and SD can give me fits.
Honestly, I don't remember. I have been actively collecting since 1948. At the time I would have found it in that condition I don't think anyone was interested in '70 large or small date. So, I'm guessing that I bought it or traded for it later. I posted here to get some support for the attribute. Thanks for the help.
@Inspector43 Thanks for that. I get excited seeing SDs that look like circulation finds. I've never found one in the wild and only recall seeing 2 or 3 lucky CRH enthusiasts finding one. I was hoping you were the 3rd or 4th. I still hold out some hope finding the 1960 SD and the 1970S SD. But having both takes the pressure off a bit. Happy New Year to you and I hope 2020 is a great one!
@Kevin Mader Happy New Year. And let's hope you find those coins that are eluding you. 2020 will be the year of our 20th Great Grandchild.
@Inspector43 That's pretty awesome; 20 in '20. Let's see what the year has in store. At the moment, I'm eyeing a 1955 Doubled Die. I think it could happen this coming year.
Top one looks good. I've never gotten one in almost 50 years. Likewise 1960 sd Philly. I could buy one, but there's no fun in that for me.
Like you, I'm a purist at heart. I enjoyed the thrill of building a collection from the wild...perhaps as it was intended(?). But the reality is, we are unlikely to find any 'ancients' in our change. So I concede: it is necessary to collect coins in other, perhaps less-traditional, ways. Like many, I stared at open slots for a long time waiting for a find. Buying was the only way to fill some of them. But before I messed things up, I kept my circulation sets pure and built second sets with the occasional purchased coins. I have been only able to build a Jefferson Nickel set from the wild (which is still a relatively practical thing to do). But I pulled out the white flag for the Lincolns.
I've bought coins sure. But I was not as happy with ones that I bought, compared to ones I got through other means. (Passed down through friends and family, finding in circulation or metal detecting.) And at this point, if it wasn't a hassle, I would be much more of a seller. I still collect, but I don't hoard.
I realized that I was hoarding coins as a young collector...and I was grateful for that once I started hunting varieties (I had a stockpile to go through). I got rid of a bunch of coins at one point only to learn of another key variety or two and wished I had them back. So I began to hoard again. I haven't looked at that stockpile in a while, but the last time I ran through them (the Henning dates)...I found I had one. The lucky thing of it was that when I found it, I thought what a nasty looking coin and almost put it back into circulation immediately. But a year or two later, I found it. I can't tell you how many times I was staring at something that didn't look right...but I tossed it anyway. But not that one. So now I'm hesitant to separate.
The majority of my early coins were found in circulation. I started in 1948 when virtually any coin ever minted for circulation in the USA was possible to find in change. In the mid fifties I got a 20 cent piece in change. I did work at it. When I was young there were several Mom & Pop confectionaries in every neighborhood. I became friends with all the owners. I walked home from school and stopped at each of them. I would walk in, go to the cash register, open it and look through all the change. The owners knew me and trusted me. On Saturday morning I would go to the bank downtown. Believe me, I would walk in, go to the vault and sit on the floor. The tellers would bring me their change on a tray. I would roll it for them. Another place I would help was the amusement park. When they closed there was a ton of change to roll. There were many other hot spots that I would cover. Those were days when you had to prove that you couldn't be trusted. Quite the opposite of today. So, it was a very rich collecting environment and I filled most of my sets with the exception of the very rare coins.
@Inspector43 That is incredible! What awesome memories!! Thanks for sharing. I was lucky too...but around 30 years later than you. I had two paper routes so I had a steady stream of change to pick through. I still got decent silver in my change in the late 70s and plenty of Wheaties. But that wasn't enough so my brother and I would combine our tip money to purchase $50 bags of cents; we'd get a bag every Saturday while our parents had breakfast at a local diner and search it in the back of my dad's station wagon. We found many great coins; early Lincolns and many with mint marks. I split them up a few years back into two circulation cent albums keeping some of the harder finds and giving the rest to my brother. I've been meaning to tally up things wondering how close we got to a complete set. Of course, the rarer/rarest cents were missing, but there were a few surprises. I think that's what set me out to be a 'purist'. The challenge is enticing!! Unrealistic?? Yes, for most series. But a true enthusiast will chip away at that ice block, even with a popsicle stick.
That is a great story also. It was true collecting back then. If you are interested I have a link to an early post of mine that describes my accumulation. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/sorting-my-70-year-accumulation.330231/
