I went looking at some of the places online for coin irregularities. Apparently there's enough people out there looking awfully closely at Lincoln cents that I could fill three asylums and still have enough left over for a major political convention. I admire dedication, but how does anyone do this? I either have dozens of very rare pennies in my change jar, or I am unable to distinguish between wide AM's and closed AM's. I'm gonna have dreams about Lincoln tonight: "Alex, check the back of my head. If you can see initials, then I must be a 1978-D. In fine condition, I'm worth $5,000. Only three of me have ever been found ..." Can anyone offer some advice on some sort of methodology for looking? Do you just accumulate the things to be on the lookout for, or do people have a checklist? Is sorting the coins first the preferred method of attack or is it more Zen, with the discoveries being just the things people happen to notice while they happen to be staring at the backside of a random penny with a magnifying glass for 15 minutes?
I am one of those who should be in an asylum. I search Lincoln Cents for die varieties and errors. I buy rolls from the bank, search them with either a scope or a loupe. The ones that are errors and varieties get put aside. The rest get sent back to the bank so I get my money back. I used to sell most of the varieties I find, but don't do so as much any more. There are people that have a full-time job selling errors and varieties. I am not one of those people, though. As far as checklists/sites, I mainly use coppercoins (specifically this link http://coppercoins.com/advsearch.php) which has a database of nearly 3,000 Lincoln Cent die varieties, including doubled dies and repunched mintmarks. I also belong to the lincolncentresource.net forum, which specializes in Lincoln Cents as well as Lincoln Cent die varieties and errors. Some people say they don't have the time or patience to look for what seems like insignificant differences in coins. I respect that. It just means there's more for me to find!
