I have a question for those of you who search for varieties in circulated or proof coins. What process do you use? Do simply look at them with the naked eye then use a loupe if you see something out of the ordinary? How do you spot the sublte double dies? I guess it would be nice to see what a few of you do when searching. Thanks!
Sort by decade and then resort into rolls by year. All the while taking out corroded/junky ones, checking rotation and putting oddities to the side. Break out the cherrypickers every now and then and search a few rolls. Cents have to be checked for wheats first and 98,99 and 00 wide AM's pretty easy, but questionable ones get put into their own roll. Nickels get searched for war nickels first. Others are searched for silver first. Still have about $75 worth of date roll cents to search. I think I am done with cents, but if I find a good one I may change my mind. Good luck!
I mostly just take a quick look for anything that wants to jump out at me. I'll use a 4" low power very wide angle lens for going through a bag or a bunch of rolls especially if it's not something well known to be or there may be unreported varieties. I use an 18x Triplett for confirmeation and a microscope as needed. A very low percentage of coins get more than a quick look. I might miss a few but they'lll tend to be less desirable anyway and I can look at a great deal more this way.
I remember reading somewhere about someone using a tray with a grooved area the size of a cent ( dado for woodworkers) that he arranged 10-20 coins and just moved the cent under the scope and off for the next one. I use part of a plastic cake tray bottom that happened to have a groove that fits cents. It is round rather than straight, but it works. The worst part of searching for me is microscope work, so the more I do before actually bending over the eyepieces, the less ache in the shoulders. You would think that after a lifetime of scope work those muscles would look like wings on my shoulders Do one year/mm at a time for mental retention and descrimination. Jim
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I scan REAL quick with a cheap 4x/8x magnifier, a loupe is too strong and small and hurts my eyes. If something looks interesting, I set it aside for examination with my 12x loupe later. Since I'm only looking for a handful of varieties and doubled dies, I probably miss a lot....oh well... the main thing I'm after are AU-MS grade red cents and wheats.
