So many rolls...

Hey all! I’m about to start going through my Lincolns. There are so many. Any advice other than just go through them one at a time? Thanks!

 

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Yes
1. Don't post anything you think might be a Variety or Mint Error in the "what's it worth" forum.. that's annoying. Post in the Mint Error forum section instead.

2. Not every 1969 S is automatically a Doubled Die

3. Have fun

 

If you have never gone thru these to look for errors, etc., make sure you roll up the ones you don't think are anything for now. Put them in a separate place. I can tell you that you cannot learn everything in such a short time that one going thru is enough. You will, if you like this, learn about other varieties and errors that you did not spot the first time and may be able to find a second or third time through.

As an example, I did not know about a number of somewhat valuable ones, that for a long time, I went through the cents pretty quick and then got rid of the rest. If I only had what you have right now, it would, IMO be ok to give it a rest and re-go through them in a year or so.

 

Great advice guys, thanks! I have the red book to help me. Are there only certain years that have errors? Most of these rolls are marked between 1920 through 1960. Could you recommend a good website that helps with Lincolns? I know there are some awesome ones for nickels!

 

Many years have errors. Some errors are specific to certain years and mint marks. Some errors are difficult for new people to spot. Make sure you learn the differences in the large and small dates for some years. Also learn transitional changes (usually on the reverse of Lincoln memorials). Learn Pick-up-points, such as a close AM for a number of later memorials also has a wide spacing for the FG initials near the memorial and the opposite is true for the Wide AM. If you come across any 1982D Small Date Cents, save them separately and later figure out if they are all zinc (probably will be, but one copper one has been found). The weight will be different. You can either then weigh them individually on a scale if you get one later, or you can do a popsicle stick scale test. You probably will not get a lot of these coins to test, but you might as well be considering it.

 

Kasia gives good advice above. I will only mention one year, 1972, doubled die cents. John Wexler has a good readable short piece on this year at www.doubleddie.com. While there are around seven better varieties that are officially recognized from the first master die that have value, there could be tens of thousands from the second master die that are not recognized as there were too many minor varieties made that really have little to no value. Good to learn the difference during this particular year. Just that one year is a learning curve in itself.

 

Thanks so much @tommyc03 for that website! That is a huge help to me. Just what I have read so far is all info I didn’t know before. @Kasia your advice is informative and greatly appreciated! You are right about me having to be patient. I never had any idea that there were so many different varieties, errors, etc. I feel like this may take me a very long time but I’m excited. Thanks y’all for your help!

 

Variety Vista Home
Cuds on Coins
http://maddieclashes.com
Wexler's Coins and Die Varieties
The Lincoln Cent Resource

Lincoln Cent (Wheat Reverse) (1909-1958) Value - PCGS Price Guide
The price guide includes all varieties included in the Cherry Picker's guide. Just click the "+" on the left side of screen to expand.

 

Also if they aren't separated by year, you can save lots of future time by doing so. As @Kasia said, there will always be something that you learn about later that you will want to check to see if you have one. If they are separated by year, it makes this task much much easier.

 

Especially Love the Lincoln Cent Resource!!! Thanks!

 

You are welcome. But keep your patience and your excitement in separate boxes in that order. You will be amazed at how much there is to discover and maybe, possibly, find something of special importance that no one else has found yet. That's when you open the excitement box.

 

Perhaps the most important thing you need to understand is that because you're new to this, the chances of you picking up on any/every possible variety within is slim to none. No number of books, reference, or websites will change this. If you go through all of the coins now, stick with the hobby for another year or two, and then go through them again, you'll almost certainly come across something overlooked the first time.

Any and every date has the potential for both varieties and errors. Just because there may not be any listed for a certain date, this does not mean none exist, but simply none are known to that whatever site/reference. This is why truly knowing what to look for is of the utmost importance. Anyone with reasonably modest experience can try to match up a coin to a known variety, but if you genuinely know what you're doing and can identify the characteristics on your own, such sites are only useful for attributing.

If anything, do consider investing more of your time into learning about the different varieties, how they're produced, etc, as opposed to simply trying to match anything found to a website. Good luck.

 

This looks like a cool project that should not be rushed. Start with looking up each coin in the Red Book. Great way to learn what to look for. I would make a pile of anything that does not look normal and research those later. You might want to make a separate pile for better grade cents.
You may know this but if you start finding red unc cents, handle them only by the edges.
Let us know what you find.

 

You can save yourself that trouble and redeem them at my bank and I can take them off your hands when they call me and tell me. My bank will pay you cash, right on the barrelhead.

 

I pull these coins looking for varieties and errors:
1960 D RPM
1971 DDO
1972 DDO
1983 DDR
1984 DDO
1992 CAM
1992D CAM
1995 DDO
1998 WAM
1999 WAM
2000 WAM
2009 DDR (Lincoln finger)
To make my life easier, I put the 1992 P and D in the same pile, the 1998,99,2000 in the same pile, and the 1971 and 1972 in the same pile. It makes it easier when sorting to have less piles, especially since you're looking for the same things.

I sort everything out first, then I go year by year on my list looking for specific items. I line about 10 coins on one hand and use a loop in the other to look down the line. When you know what you're looking at, it can go pretty quickly and you don't waste your time picking your loop up and putting it back down. I definitely recommend pulling all the years that are worth looking at and sorting them, then going back afterwards with a loop. Also, pull up PCGS coin facts on each of the varieties so you know exactly what you are looking at.

 

When you say red cents do you mean very shiny coppery looking pennies? It’s not the best lighting but the wrapper said uncirculated.

 

Great info thank you!!!

 

Thanks for the offer

 

Yes. That's red. You may have solid rolls of red MS/UNC coins. Be careful with them.

 

And thank you for taking it humorously, as it was meant. Truth is, if I had that in front of me, my ears would be standing up stiff just like in my handsome avatar.