Cherrypickers Thread

For all you Cherrypickers out there, this is your chance to show off and brag a bit about your greatest Cherrypicks! For those of you who are not aware what a Cherrypicker is, it is someone who finds a coin (or any collectible item for that matter) that is worth more than the average coin of that same year and mintmark due to a die variety or error unbeknownst to the seller. Although there are many books and reference material published out there about varieties and errors, The Cherrypickers Book by Bill Fivaz and JT Stanton is our bible. Some collectors do very well making a very good living from finding and selling their finds. Occasionally, I may trade or sell a duplicate, but most Cherrypicks stay in my collection. Here are some of my latest Cherrypickers finds.

First is my 1941 S/S Walking Liberty Half. This half was my entry into the annual Cherrypickers contest sponsored by CONECA at the ANA in Chicago. This entry won me the Fivaz-Stanton Cherrypickers Award for the Best Die Variety found during this years Errorama 2013. Enjoy!

 

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I go thru Buffalo nickels of the late 30s and pull out all of the OMM or RPM, Not a get rich quick thing but it is fun to buy them at 69 cents and have them worth upwards of $75. 1930-S, 36-S and 38-D are easy to find. And the Dealers most likely have a large box of them for you to look thru. I have not sold any of them but I am getting quite of few of them.

 

My 1941P-1DO-001 is my best cherrypick, got it in a bag of wheats. Unfortunately I just sold it...

 

1981 S type 2 proof SBA - $2.50
1945 Washington quarter, MS-64ish inverted "S" mintmark - $12.00
1970 proof set with small date cent - $6.50
1981 proof set with three type 2s including the SBA - $7.00
1952 Washington quarter proof "Super-bird" - $25.00
1952 Washington quarter proof "Super-bird" with re-engraved tail - $27.50
1979 SBA with wide rim - $4.50 and $5.50, both in souvenir sets
1952 DDR (Type B/Type A) proof Washington quarter -$5.00 (sold the remainder of the set for $5.00 less than I paid for the whole set in the first place)
1964 Kennedy half (2) with Accented Hair - $12.00, $13.00
1964 D Washington quarter with Type C reverse (XF) - $4.75 (melt)

Note that all but the last were from live auctions. I always tell my local B&M when I find something good in their stock. They appreciate it because I've pointed out some good ones. But most of the time they don't care and let me buy it anyway (that's how I got my 1942/1 D dime), but I don't consider that a cherry-pick.

 

That sucks....but at least you can say that you owned it!

 

And found it.

 

This is my best. Clashed die with Liberty Head $20

 

Here is another one that I found last week. It has been sent off to ANACS because I had a coupon for two free gradings. 1939D Mercury dime - attributed as an FS-501. I don't have a pic of the whole coin, but it should come back AU55 or somewhere around there. There are a few distracting spots on the coin, one of which can be seen in the pic. Enjoy.

 

That always seems to be my problem. Whenever I find something it is always on the most crud covered, dinged up, corroded coin there is XD

 

My best cherrypick was discussed in another thread here...found a 1970 "No S" proof Roosevelt dime.

 

Perhaps my very "best" cherrypick was my Prototype Eisenhower!



I paid less than $10 for this at a major coin show. There is one other owned by Charles Chatham but it has a different obverse so both coins are unique so far.

At a close second was a DDR-005 1971-S Eisenhower.





So far, its the only one PCGS has graded but I know of at least two others with many, many folks searching for more.

I paid less than $10 for the coin out of a dealers bin of 2x2'ed dollars.

BTW, I really am hesitant to continue to post these two coins as I know I've posted them a lot over the years but if folks continue to ask then I'll just continue to post. I'd not like to be perceived as having "persistency's disease" but then I'm not promoting the coins.

 

THanks for rubbing it in LEE! Please do keep on posting them as it continues to give me motivation to look. Of course, I am always looking. At the ANA show, I sent in 3 of my latest IKE Cherrypicks to PCGS. I found two FS103's and a 72 FS101. Both in superb condition. I can't wait to get them back.

 

This weeks Cherrypick is a 1974D Kennedy Half dollar. Bought a 1974 mint set at a local coin auction for $5. Cracked the coin out and sent it into ANACS. I would have normally sent this into NGC or PCGS, but quite frankly, they are getting too expensive, plus being a "ANACS Insider" has its perks. Periodically, they will send you free submission coupons. I just used two and have 5 more to use. For coins that are not all that valuable, but I want to protect them, then I am sending them off to ANACS. Plus they have the added feature that if you know what the variety is, they will charge you less ($7) vs. if you don't know what the variety is and want them to do the research ($12). PCGS is $24 and NGC is $15.

This is not the best pic, but you get the point.

 

This is my best yet - 1882 - snow 6 MS-63. Bought for $105 and sold for $1500.

 

WTG Mark! I call that cha cha ching!

 

Thanks. At that time there were less than 6 or 7 known - some people tried talking me into holding it. Heck no - sold it before more were discovered. This coin is still at #6 on the finest known list on the wiki. And it looks like Rick Snow has it back up for sale for $1700. Since I sold this one I have only seen one other - it was on ebay and at best a VG. I also know a 65 sold on heritage for about $750. So I am happy little collector.

 

Its all about timing....and you hit it just right.

 

Here is my latest Cherrypick this week. It was an "accident" Cherrypick. A friend of mine had a super sweet 1934D Oregon Trail commem for sale. He wanted outrageous money for it (MS66 prices) because it was not only an NGC MS64 but it had a gold football on it. We split the difference and I ended up buying it from him for what a 65 would go for. More than what I would normally pay, but it was a sweet looking commem and had nice toning and was solid for the grade. But the coin gods must have been looking out for me because once I had it in hand, I noticed that it was a tripled die!!! A quick look at Cherrypickers showed a 33D Oregon Trail with the same tripled die obverse and noted in the comments section that the 34D halves also exhibit this tripling. A quick look on CONECA and it was already noted with 3 known in all grades. I shot off an email to James Wiles confirming the variety and he requested to look at the coin and photograph it. Here are my photographs. Enjoy.

 

Wow! Awesome find!

 

Dogs and Devils, I don't find nuthin'........

Happy Hunting dear fellows.