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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;asciibaron, post: 218093, member: 8566&quot;]i have been going through a few thousand Lincoln cents for the past few weeks.&nbsp; i have sorted all the coins into bags by decade and then i sort each bag by mint mark and then year.&nbsp; it takes quite a bit of time to dig through the coins, but it is giving me a chance to really know the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>last night i tackled the 1960&#039;s bag which contains about 200 coins.&nbsp; there were 2 dates for the 1960 dated coins - a large date which is the common issue, and the small date which was at first thought to have a limited number in circulation since the coins were only made in January before the die was modified.&nbsp; in a previous sort of another group of coins and in this one, i was having a difficult time discerning the small date from the large date.&nbsp; in comparing pictures in the Red Book to the coins i had in hand, i felt a few could have been the small date, but i wasn&#039;t 100%.</p><p><br /></p><p>as i was comparing the dates on the 1960-D coins, it all came into focus.&nbsp; before my eyes was a 1960-D small date coin.&nbsp; the difference was very obvious when compared to a large date coin, but only until i could see it on a coin in front of me could i tell the difference.</p><p><br /></p><p>there are other varieties of the Lincoln cent that have various sized dates or other aspects of interest which have numismatic value.&nbsp; digging through literally thousands of coins since the end of March has given me a greater understanding of the coins.&nbsp; sure i can read all about the Lincoln cent on websites and in books, there is no greater educator for coins than sitting down and looking at them, hundreds of them.&nbsp; once you really know the coin, the varieties will standing out the instant you have a look at them through the glass.</p><p><br /></p><p>i urge any budding collector to sit down, whether at a coin shop, coin show, or in their own home and look at as many coins of a given type as possible.&nbsp; really knowing the coin will enable you as a collector to see when something extraordinary is before your eyes.&nbsp; identifying coins with the differing 1960 date size seems like a minor exercise until you try it.&nbsp; now that i can instantly recognize the difference, it makes it that much easier to spot coins erroneously marketed.</p><p><br /></p><p>get to know your coins.&nbsp; your wallet will thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p>-Steve[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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