I kind of hit the jackpot. Just came up with about $10 worth of pennies to go through. Turns out a great deal of them are very good condition 1980's, a few.oldest one so far is 1990. Does anyone have a good updated list of key dates?
Just a term to describe high grade, mint state coins. It was used a lot before the Sheldon System of grading (1-70) was adopted for all coin types
Thank you for the explanation. I called a coin a gem the other day so I was just curious what it meant. I don't want to use the wrong terminology.
I use it specifically to refer to a coin that is BU and is well struck from good dies and has minimal hits and scratches. Some of the coins the services grade MS-67 I don't even call a Gem but then some of the coins they grade MS-64 are Gems. Low end Gems I call "gemmy". Truly nice '84-P cents are quite scarce by any definition. Most have poor surfaces and plating issues. I've looked at hundreds of mint set coins and have seen only one coin I'd call a "GEM". Roll coins tend to be much worse. The '86's both come nice but there aren't many sitting in rolls and roll coins of this date often tarnish or corrode.
