My father-in-law passed on to me a large coin collection(two whiskey boxes worth) and I've been able to absorb most of the collection and figure out what I need to complete several of the books. BUT, I have 4 rolls of 1970-s pennies that all have the same thing written on them - "1970-s AU - BU unsearched for hi-lo" What the heck was he saving these four rolls(200 pennies) for and what does the AU - BU unsearched for hi-lo mean???? Anyone have an idea? Thanks
It means the "High 7" and "Low 7" varieties. The High 7 (aka "small date") variety is worth a premium.
Look at the lower curl of the "9". If it's bent up and pointing nearly horizontally it's a small date. If it's bent down pointing to the mint mark then it's a large date. The small date has a premium. There are also some OMM's but none have much value. There are three DDO's and one is quite valuable.
Check this link for info. on the '70 large and small dates. http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/1970S1cSmAndLgDtCompare.htm
If those are 1970 s's, shouldn't they be proof. The Mint moved the proof operation to San Francisco in 1968.
The San Francisco mint made cents and nickels for circulation in 1970 with the S mint mark. These were business strike MS coins. They can still be found in pocket change. They also appeared in the 1970 mint set and some of the finest specimens come from this source. More than 10% of the S cents in the sets are the small date variety.
Actually, the San Francisco mint produced business coins from 1968 trough 1974. All have the "s" mint mark.
Not in all denominations - at least according to the Red Book. The S Jefferson business strike was issued in '68, '69 & '70. Prior to that that the last was issued in 1958. The last S mint dime was issued in 1955. The last business strike S mint quarter was issued in 1954 - buy they did issue an S mint business strike silver clad quarter in 1976 as part of the Bicentennial. The half dollars are the same as the quarters. S mint business strike dollars were issued in '71, '72, '73, '74, '76, '79, '80 & '81.
San Francisco also produced cents and quarters for circulation from 1965 to 1967 without a mint mark. West Point struck quarters for circulation in the late '70's. 1970 was the last nickel struck in San Francisco for circulation. It did have a mint mark and did appear in the mint set as well.
