Ok, so I have posted on here a few times and gotten LOADS of helpful advice, and alot of valuable information. I have started coin collecting with Lincoln Cents, and really any pennies I can get ahold of. Right now in containers on my newly appointed "Coin Desk" I have aprox. 3200 pennies. I have quickly gone through them looking for anything stood out as something I wanted to keep, wheat cents, "S" mint marks... things like that. Now my question is, what should I be looking for? Do I need to take each one and check to see if there are any known errors for that year, inspect the entire thing, look up prices and varriants, and then decide weather or not to keep it? or should I just throw them back into circulation? is it not worth it to inspect each one in detail. I know I look stupid asking questions like these, but I am trying to make sure I do my homework and learn this stuff very well. I have already purchased a "Red Book" and am reading it. Thank you in advance for your help and thoughts. Kyle
I only look for three things: wheats, CAMs and WAMs, and MS cents (even the zinc ones). Many also look for pre-82 copper cents worth 2-3 cents because of the copper price, however I don't think it's worth the time
What to keep: Flying Eagle Cents (1856-1858) Indian Head Cents (1859-1909) Wheat Cents (1909-1958) copper Memorial Cents (1959-1981) Lincoln Bicentennial Cents (2009) WAM's (Wide AM Variety; when there's a larger than usual space between the A and M in AMERICA on the reverse of the cent) What to put back into circulation: zinc Memorial Cents (1982-2008) zinc Shield Cents (2010-present) You probably won't find many, if any, flying eagles or indian heads.
Thank you for the info, I will keep it in mind. Glad to hear I don't need to inspect every one of my 3200 pennies in great detail. And I did actually find an Indian Head Cent when going through them. I was super excited to have found it, it is the oldest coin I own.
I always check for these: 1983P DDR - Check ONE CENT and EPU 1984P DDO - Double Ear 1988P - Reverse of 1989 1992 P & D - Close AM 1994P DDR - Check the Columns 1995P DDO - Check IGWT and LIBERTY 1998, 1999 and 2000P - Wide AM I recently found a 1905 IHC roll searching, my first one.
I look at all cents, in case a new error shows up. Aside looking for the common errors I look for colors rainbows, reds etc. Now this is just my interest and I go thru rolls pretty darn fast. I also sell cent rolls (50 coins) of all one date and mint, and or roll of reds, rainbow etc. Some collectors interest come in different ways, like collecting all red regardless of date and damage. I got an added bonus yesterday of a dime in a roll of pennies.
