What would you do with...?

Why dump the shields? There are many doubled dies in the shield series.

 

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You have a good point! The markets hot for errors and Shields aren’t any less hot than Memorials or Wheats just as long as their nice examples. @Seattlite86 is in Germany and has no access to be able to dump so closely going through those Shields gives him another 50 pounds of his hoard he can scrutinize and not dump.
Personally I stopped collecting any Zinc because I found examples of advanced zinc rot in my collection and decided to specialize in Lincoln Cents from 1930 to 1982 only. I will conserve any Zinc Lincoln I find that warrants conservation but will no longer hunt and keep new cents actively.
Here is one that’s commonly seen, I can see the D in the hole with my microscope!
(Found this going through some bank rolls I’d put up 18 years ago)

 

Because I have way too many shields to try to identify them. I have limited time, so shields are an easy pass compared to some of the other varieties.

 

Yep, this is really a time issue. So many shields, so little time. I'm not a huge fan of Zlincolns, but I'll make an exception for the 1995 and 1984 DDOs

 

Yeah every time I think of you I picture you making a giant mountain with all your Lincolns. Is that about to scale? Lol. Reed

 

I'd say no, but my wife might disagree with me, haha.

 

Okay, an update on this thread. I've gone through the smallest box, breakdown:
appx 5,500 cents in total for 15kg or 33lbs. I placed all 1982 cents into the Pre-1982 cents because it makes my estimation more conservative in terms of ratio of pre and post 1982. Pre-1982 Cents: 1,230 or 22.4%. Post 1982-Cents: 4,270 or 77.6%. Price paid per kg: $3.42 cents, or $51.30 for this box. Price realized from dumping at the bank: $52.05. 75 Cents profit! Haha, I need to look through the about 20 cents I pulled aside, but I did find:

oldest cent: 1958 wheat cent (first and only one found so far)
newest cent: 2017-P (with the P on the cent, so weird!)
1x 2000 WAM
1x 1995 DDO

So, in temporary summary. I've managed to not lose any money, despite the 5% dump fee. It takes a long time to go through a box and there are only a couple keepers. But, it's not costing me anything extra, gives me a little fun on the side, and lets me still be active in coin collecting, despite not being in the US. Hopefully I'll have more success with the coming boxes. More to follow

 

You have got to post some pictures of your hoard piles in action during sorting and inspection. Please please please.
Reed

 

Do you mean to say your bank is going to charge you for counting the money you're depositing at the bank? That sounds like you need another bank.

 

I’m in Germany. I literally only have one bank I can take these to.

 

Hey pal we don’t want to hear any thing from you we just want pictures!
Is this the kids? No wonder the wife isn’t happy! Lol.

Or is this your hoard?


Are we having fun yet?
I am, Reed

 

Here’s a shield you might keep an eye out for. A newb posted this and wasn’t even asking about the doubling. I had to point it out because everyone was focused on some other Wexler number xyz 009 or some such and didn’t look AT the coin. Update: the jury is out on this being an error but we’ll see.

 

Meh, it's cool, but I'm just going to toss all shields. It saves me a lot of time and I might have another 60+ lbs coming in. Can't afford to dilly dally. Photos soon to come.

 

Let’s see them!

 

By the numbers:

1. WAM variety search pile

2. 1995 DDO search pile

3. CAM variety search pile

4. 1984 DDO search pile

5. 1983 DDR search pile

6. 1982 DDR search pile (not sure if there will be much luck here, but I saw that there can be some doubling on the E Pluribus Unum)

7. 1971 and 1972 DDO search pile

8. Cheap 10x loupe. I have it out, but I really don’t use it until the end. Every time I pick up the loupe, I lose time sorting so I try to only look at coins when I’m done sorting for a while.

9. 40lb box of US Cents. I cannot just dump them into a pile. I have young kids at home and I try to do my coin roll hunting after the kids go to bed. I also try to do it in the same room with my wife so we can chat and watch something together on TV. That means the coins have to be picked up every night. The other 2 boxes are still sealed.

10. Random cents that I want to look at under a loupe for one reason or another

11. 1960/1960-D search pile

12. Socks, no holes, keep the toes warm.

13. Tool for opening the boxes

14. Post 1983 bin (I put all 1982s in the other bin to keep a conservative). I dump them separately so I can get the exact ratio of pre and post. I get that at the end, I’ll have dumped all the coins and I’ll know more or less the ratio based on simple math of 2.5x + 3.11y = 166 lbs and x + y = z (z being total number of coins). And after writing that out, I might just put them all together from here on out, the math will work itself out.

15. Pre1983 (1982 and older) since I don’t want to bother sorting 1982s and want to be conservative in my estimates.

16. This is my latest checking method. I used to lay them along my hand and go down the line, but the lighting in the room I’m in is so terrible that it’s a strain to get the coin angled right. Instead, I now just stack them and check them quickly one by one, dropping them into a pile below (not into the bin, in case I accidentally drop two) until complete. It’s a very quick process and lets me look at tons of coins in a row.

I repeat this process on any night that I can sit down for an hour or so and do it. Once complete, I dump all coins back into those two containers and pack things up for the night.

 

Thank you for the pics! I love the corner of the box, it looks like my Airedale helped you open it. Lol. It so fun to see the different ways people search coins. In this case it’s searching raw from boxes. Sometimes it’s rolls or bags or buckets but the end result is each person does it a little different. Quite the process having to put it up each night and repeat the next time. Keep up the fun!
Thanks again for the images, show us what you find!
Reed.

 

I actually cut that flap that way on purpose. I pour the coins out in small amounts, say 150 or so at a time. Then, when I put the box back, I flip the flap up and unsuspecting children have no idea it's been opened and can stick their hands in. Putting them back is a chore, but I'll take it to be allowed to "play with my coins" as my wife calls it. Hopefully I'll have more to show soon.

 

Latest efforts. I sort slowly... maybe I’ll find something.

 

Bins are getting full. Nothing of interest found save for a few small die cracks on a few and a weird reverse toned coin. I’ll post photos later on. Been busy!

 

I normally don’t show my collection off in public, but since this is purely US cents and I’m living in Europe, I don’t foresee anyone coming to steal these. I cash them in as soon as I search them. I found a new source of US cents. Might be getting them more regularly. Hopefully that means more errors to be found! Here’s the hoard at the moment. Envelope placed to give dimensions perspective.