My CRH setup and process - what's yours?

ksmooter61 · Aug 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM

For the last 25 years I would typically gather coins over several years, then go through them en masse every few years. I did it mainly because I travelled for work and would have long stretches where I just didn't have the time. The travel stopped for good a couple of years ago and at the first of this year I started going through what I had recently (last 5 years) accumulated. I finished the cents several months ago and the nickels last week. I do a preliminary sort putting the best-looking prospects into plastic cups (one per decade)

I will set aside any that MIGHT be errors (into the tray of the lamp), then once finished I will check them out. Most end up being just PMD or extremely minor, and back into the wild they go. But a few make it into 2x2s. I will post a couple on the Error forum in a bit.

The cup on the far left is for 50s and earlier, the next for 60s and so on around the desk. I put some wadded up paper towels in the bottom and set the coins in without letting them hit hard. Since I am only picking the best-looking coins, they don't fill up much. These cups were from a local hockey game, a promotion where a lot of fans left them, and I brought a bunch home. They stack well, but the handle keeps them from going all of the way down, so when I need to clear the desk to work, I can stack them up and put them aside without contacting the coins inside.

The cup on the far right is for the rejects, and whenever it fills up, I will dump them out and roll them up to return to the bank. My bank doesn't have a machine, and they require them to be rolled. I re-use the rolls that the coins come in; I don't break them up when I take them out, and I get new ones from the bank as needed (they do not charge for them). Newer machine rolled coins can be a bit difficult to get out, but it's doable, and then getting the rejects back into the tight roll is tough but can be done. Then the roll gets marked with an X. There are several other searchers that use the same bank, and we all mark them, then when we get new rolls, we politely ask the teller to not give us any marked ones. You get some odd looks, but they are usually very helpful. I went through nearly 150 rolls of nickels this time, plus a lot of loose coins.

For me this is enjoyable, and relaxing. I have worked in manufacturing my entire adult life where every day is fixed and rigid, start early and work late. I have always had a bit of OCD, and this just works to level things out for me.