My question is: I have an unopened mint bag of 1963 pennies. What do you think the conditions would be for the pennies, and should I open it and sort through these 5000 pennies in hopes of finding one or more "valuable ones"?
Depends on storage conditions sir. If stored properly, most should be red. Some can be toned around the edge of the bag. However, if stored in hot, humid environments it could be bad. An older dealer told me of an original bag of Peace dollars brought into the shop. He said he had a bad vibe as soon as he saw the mildewy bag. Yes, they were original, but about half were corroded past the point of saving. If they were stored is a cool, dry place you will be good.
Many thanks. Bag looks free of mildew, water marks, etc. If you were the owner, would you open it hoping for a treasure of reds, toned BU's, etc., or save it for grandkids to open in 20-30 years? What is a red 1963 BU Lincoln worth?
Just because they might be RD, doesn't mean that they will grade high or be worth submitting now or 25 years from now. If it were me, I'd open it to search for errors and varieties. I had an original, unopened Mint bag of 1980 Philly cents that I searched. There were no high grades, but I did find 228 die clashes. ~ Chris
Welcome to CT @hogwash. Let me ask a question before I give my opinion. Why did you acquire the bag? Possible errors, to make a profit, just have fun going through them? Opening and going through them ALL would be a snowy winters dream for me, but otherwise, you may make a profit selling the unopened bag.
Are kids/grandkids interested in coins? If yes, it would be a magnificent gift unopened. Else, you go for it and post the results.
I'd open it. I would be to curious what's in there and really I would have bought it to open it not just because I wanted to have a bag laying around MS 66 are 15-20 bucks, 66+ is like 80ish and 67s are a couple hundred.
Fire: Wow. Those prices--MS 66, $15-20, MS 67, $80, etc., seem really high. Can you share a source which shows those prices? Thanks.
Thought if you go through sort out the 15 or 20 absolute best. No spotting no marks of any consequence and try them at grading and see what happens
It's my guess that these prices are for certified specimens, and it will cost you $25 or more to submit one for grading. It's my guess that the likelihood of finding an MS67 is like that married couple.....What are their names?.....Oh, yeah!.....Slim & Nun.
My mother in law had about 10 rolls of ‘63s along with a number of ‘61s and ‘64s. It was fun looking through them. Sadly, nothing interesting.
You are the one who you know has the knowledge to pick the treasures from the common coins. The grandkids may never know what you know, in order to do the same. Voting for O P E N. T H E. B A G.