Unopened mint sewn bag of 1972 P pennies

Well if can use almost $2k then list the bag and see if it sells...but know what the shipping will cost you!!! A dealer would offer you MUCH less for it.

My little brother was born in '72 so I have a weakness for this bag lol...besides the fact that I've been searching pennies since I was a kid in the 70's.

You already know the face value...so I would search it...one nice variety could be worth the $50 face value. Do the research on those doubled dies and varieties and search like the wind...would be my choice anyway

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Personally I would list the bag on ebay for $1800 or best offer and let it fly! I'm way too impatient to look for DDO's or any other error, but that's just me. Besides, wouldn't that be the pitts to open the bag, search for errors and find only one cent with a cud?

 

I tried searching a $50 Mint-sewn bag of 1980 Lincolns once. It gave me so many headaches that it took me 4-1/2 years to finish it. I had two other bags of 1974 Lincolns, and I sold them for $100 each.

 

Nice and funny story you should add any nice finds thread. ( if you open it )

 

This is super helpful, thank you. I've been hesitant to open it for just this reason - I don't want to dismiss anything due to lack of knowledge.

 

Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd guess they are all 72's. The bag is labeled 1972, and I know the bet was paid towards the end of the year (the baby boy that sparked this bet was born in Oct).

 

I paid $320 for the three, a dealer is unloading his inventory and trying to retire. Heck the coin cards and comics, plus a CBD store that pays the mortgage next door. He has been trying to sell it.
I started with the 63's. I have slowly learned the die states and different variety's of the series and have mainly found that I would rather look at the high grade examples. I have been into them for almost a year now, only about 15$ into the bag.

 

If the bag had been opened and searched, you can examine the stitches with a magnifying glass or loupe to see if it had been re-sewn. All the holes won't match. It looks to me from the photo that it is original and unsearched.

 

Just take your time, start out with a couple of dollars on a something plush, You can buy a piece of velvet from Hobby Lobby that will be sufficient to get started. I built some coin trays before I started mine. These are the 72D's

You will need a good loupe, preferably when you get started nothing more than a 4 or 5X magnifying glass will be good. A 10X would work but...

 

Yes, I agree list it, if it sells great, if not you can think of a plan B. Flat rate shipping box only cost around $20, piece of cake!

 

If I were in your position, I'd try selling it on eBay first (esp if you can get anywhere near the $1800 that another $50 bag sold for), since because they're all crowded in a bag together and likely to have lots of dings and microscopic scratches, there' seems little chance of finding a pristine Unc MS67 or better (which are the only ones having any real monetary value), nor any guarantee of finding any of the listed DDO's (which value goes down with everyone that is found and sold). If it didn't sell on eBay I then might open it and go through them, which will be a lengthy task if looking at each coin carefully through a scope to see if there are DDO's, RPM's DDR's, or other mint errors, etc., and only you can decide whether or not that would be worth your time.

 

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to decide...you might regret it. I liked a couple suggestions/options posted: One was to keep it as-is...unopened...at least for a while, to think on it, consider it, the pros and cons, etc. Almost guarantee you'll feel differently in a month or two, a year or two, etc. than you do now. Another was to put it out there at a "silly" whatever-it's-worth-to-someone starting price (essentially a reserve) of $2k, $5k, $10k, whatever, with good photos of bag and descriptions of the potential, and see if you get any bites that may not be so silly. Last, to open it and search. Yes, there could be something of what was mentioned, but chances/odds are there either won't be, or there won't be enough in sufficient numbers, varieties, conditions, etc. to make it valuable enough after all is said and done of searching, grading/authenticating, et al. Only you can decide the real value of the option priorities for you. If it were me, I'd leave it closed/unopened and put it out there for a while at a price that you're willing to accept and see what happens. I think your chances of coming out ahead, value-wise, are better than searching, but am sure others who like to search for the adventure of it will disagree. To each their own.

 

My first question is; Who owns it? If the mother and father-in-law have passed, what about the boy/man that the original bet was made about. Should't it go to him, or at least include him in the question of what to do?
Personally, I'd put it on eBay and hope for the best, but I don't own it.
Welcome to CT BTW.

 

My only thought, which others have recommended, is to take your time making a decision. Although you have gotten recommendations from several collectors on this site, you might want to check other sources of information. The bag may be worth a great deal of money, or it may just be worth face value of the coins. Once you've opened the bag, you've closed the door on the possible value of a sealed bag. Again, take your time. Also, put it away somewhere safe. You may have a visitor, friend, or relative come visit you and find out what you have. Don't tell any more than you have to. Temptation is great and everyone has their level of honesty. I remember a story about a man that had a collection of coins. One day, he had a friend over and he was so proud of his collection that he showed it to a friend. Two days later, his house was broken into while he was at work. When he came home, there was only one thing stolen... his coin collection. During WWII, there was a saying in the U.S. Navy, "Loose lips, sink ships!"
Best of luck.

 

IT'S OPEN!

Before you ask...
- Ownership belongs to my spouse, who gave the green light to open.
- We decided that, despite the opportunity to sell the unopened bag, the 2 men who started all of this (the $50 bet), would have much rather enjoyed a treasure hunt and the love of a new hobby.
- I spent about 6 weeks researching and "practicing" prior to even posting here (I needed expert insight before I pulled the plug ). I have a microscope, gloves, coin flips, and Safelips.
- I am numbering all coins as I go along and taking pics/notes of any tiny thing that looks odd. There are so many varieties... I'm afraid I might miss anything that isn't obvious doubling (thank you Mr. Wexler - you've been my best resource).
- I am waaaay deep in the Kool-Aid! This is so much fun!

I'm posting some pics of the grand opening bag here. I will start new threads for specific coin questions. Thank you in advance - this would be an insane undertaking without experts to help!

 

Are they all the same year/condition/mint? Best of luck.

 

It might be easy to look over the minor DDO's for the year. But you won't be able to miss the couple of major ones.
Watch out for the MDDO.
Which is doubling found on the master die. And not true Hub Doubling.
http://www.error-ref.com/?s=Master+die+doubling

 

Yes, so far all 1972 from Philadelphia.

 

Such bravery, good on you! I hope you all find some great errors or anything that brings big rewards!

 

I see a couple of misaligned dies in the last photo. Don't get too excited about these. MAD's are as common as dirt for all years and denominations.