So a dear friend of mine had rolls and rolls and rolls of Pennie’s, dimes, nickels and quarters. She guesstimates close to $1,000 in loose change…. she said “just return what you don’t want or need”. Of course I’m not gonna do that, I will pay her for what I keep. But that brings me to my next question….. WHAT DO I KEEP?!? So far all look to be modern coins but I haven’t gotten to the rolls yet, just the ones in baggies so far. So help me…. What should I keep? (and I’m pretty sure there is nothing before 1920.) This was just spare change she’s accumulated over the years and recently bought a coin sorter/roller machine. She’s never been into coins. At all. But if there is a big one in there of course she will get half. Soooo…. All that being said, what dates should I keep and which should I return? Pennies Nickels Dimes Quarters I don’t think there are any half dollar or dollar coins. Sorry for the book (long post) but thank you all so much for any direction you can provide. ♥️
Well it depends on what you like to search. You can always just take them to the bank. Me, I would get them all.
There will undoubtedly be a number of variety and error coins in that mix. You might want to create a list of each by denomination and year/mm. Slow going to start but you’ll start to remember the list as you go along. Good luck!
Keep what you like and keep the errors. If she’ll let you buy them in small amounts add I you can go through them at your leisure. Very nice of her to tell you to keep what you want and let you look through them. Even nicer for you to pay her.
Variety vista if you can cherry pick for RPM's e.t.c. Search 1992,1998,1999 and 2000 cents for WAM's and CAM's.
I wouldn’t dream of not paying her or splitting a big find with her. We have been best friends for 20 years. And I hadn’t thought about buying them in small amounts so that is a great idea. Thank you.
Thank you for the positivity. I was in a Facebook group and received a snarky comment “do you want to collect coins or get rich”? Well duh! Who wouldn’t want to find that rare coin?!? Why do people have to be so rude? So thank you for your encouragement.
For me being a roll hunter - I like to look for varieties. Mostly the ones on the Cherrypickers list. I know that there can be a endless list of varieties. I do look for some that are not in the list like the 1965 (D) double dot Lincoln and die rotations. the coins I look thru are from friends and family. one friend gets a lot of coins thru tips. He get hundreds of dollars in coins. I have found a few silver plus some"W" quarters. Haven't found any varieties yet. But I still look as the needle in the haystack thought.
This right here. In the beginning, I had a pretty long list for each denomination. It got longer and longer. Basically, some fellow enthusiast would find a variety I hadn’t researched but of interest. Cherrypickers gives you one such list to consider. Striking it Rich from pocket change gives you another. There is overlap between them. Red Book has a very limited, but popular listing of variety coins. That said, I preferred my own list since there are scores of collectible varieties not listed by the popular sources. Like the 1995 D LMC DDO and the 1995 LMC DDO-002. Both are more valuable than the 1995 LMC DDO-001 but only the -001 appears in the popular publications. Start a manageable list and grow it…then reduce it. You’ll find your sweet spot.
UPDATE: So I’ve been going through what seems like a ton of quarters, (1,313 to be exact). There were some from 50’s through 1990’s and into the 2000’s. My confusion is, what should I keep and what should I send back? I’m also thinking of any that may increase in value in the future for my grandsons. In general (unless it’s an error coin) I was thinking of sending back anything that is 1980 and older? I’m a bit overwhelmed. Right now I have them divided by 1950’s 1960’s etc. Thanks for any help and input!
With quarters, anything before 1964 is silver. So set those aside until the price of silver increases.
Silver ones are obvious to set aside but with quarters, look for examples from 1965 - 1998 that are in super nice condition. I'm talking like nice shiny edges, nice luster, and minimal or no bag or rolling marks. Clad quarters from the 1960's were not saved very much in pristine condition as when they were minted all everyone cared about at the time was silver. Additionally, clad quarters wear fast in circulation so it's a rare treat to find a nice one from the last century. And keep an eye out for 1982/1983 quarters in particularly nice condition as mint sets weren't issued for the year.
MIMI, remember that any dimes before 1964 are also silver and worth MUCH more than face value just because of the silver content.
