What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

I have a couple of coin jars that I've accumulated over the past 10 years or so; one is all pennies and one is dimes. I've been meaning to go dump them into a coin machine for a couple of years now but never get around to doing it.

Ever since joining this forum, I've seen a few posts where people went to the banks "buying" change and looking for certain rare or more valuable coins. My question is, what one would be looking for going through hundreds of pennies and dimes? Is there a guide somewhere that helps identifying those "special" coins? Maybe I have a treasure in my own closet and don't even know it? I'm a total coin noob, so any help would be appreciated.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Pennies: 1981 or earlier= 95% copper

Dimes: 1964 or earlier= 90% silver

http://coinflation.com/

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Also if it has wheat or an indian on it, keep it. If you are really lucky, you might find a 1909 svdb penny.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

75% of 1982 pennies too ==>http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=337457

Nickels depending on the price of nickel can be worth 5 or more cents too. In WWII the US made silver nickel (35% silver) 1942 -1945 these are some thing to look for, but nickel has a use in heavy industry. Nickels is general could go up in value.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Silver dimes & quarters can be easily identified by stacking them up, then looking at the edges. The post-1964 copper sandwich coins show a stripe of copper on the edge, whereas the silver coins are silver/white through the whole edge. After you look at a few, they will start to just jump out at you. If they're there, that it. Not many pre-1964's to be found in circulation these days.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Thanks for the tips and links. I started going through my jar of pennies and have "extracted" around 150 pre-1982s so far. It's a pretty daunting process, so I don't know how long I'll last before giving up. :10_1_19: Haven't found a single wheat or indian yet, but did find a 1988 Canadian cent. :)

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Coincidentally, I found one of these in my change today, with the "P" above the picture of Monticello in the back to indicate it was from the Philadelphia mint, containing the silver.

It was way more exciting than it should have been. (Currently worth 67 cents.) You'd think I had won the lottery. We're a sick bunch...

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

I was excited reading that. We are sick.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

If you do not need the money just save all the pennies at least. Zink could get pricy.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Why is that?

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Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

If you want to go down the rabbit hole - http://realcent.forumco.com/default.asp

Attachment 61623

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Next time my wife gives me trouble, I'm pointing in their direction. Their even more messed up than us:36_1_32v:

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

My daughter and I sat down one Satuarday with a few Gallon size jars of random change (mostly Pennies) and sorted though them by year and we filled alot of slots in several Whitman Folders... I bought us a folder for each series of coin then we filled as many slots as we could...

It actually took us a few days and while the coins we put together aren't worth that much the time was well spent...

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

I save all pennies and nickels. Separate the pennies, coppers rolled and zincs in a bag.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

I don't... Well, I mean I do (who doesn't), but what I have in those jars won't make a whole lot of difference to me right this moment. I just wanted them gone from my closet since I hardly add anymore to them (we mostly use plastic these days, so no change). But if I look at it from "investing in the metal" angle, I could easily hang on to those coins for another 10 years if there is a chance of them appreciating.

Oh, and right after I made my earlier post, I found my first wheat penny (1946). Just like the poster above, I got very excited about it, even thought the supposed market value is only $0.10. :biggrin:

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

For your info: Canadian cents are copper up to and including 1996.

I went through my pennies and came up with about 28% coppers (pre 82)until I checked my Canadian coin book and realized Canada didn't switch from copper until 1997.

After that I ended up with 85%+ copper cents,I found 3 wheaties to boot.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

That's a good idea, thanks.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

"...have "extracted" around 150 pre-1982s so far..."

Hold up on your searching and go back and look at the 1982's. Use a simple scale (say a pencil fixed on an anvil in the center, and a pre-1982 penny fixed with something that adds very little weight).

By report it seemingly appears that about 80% of 1982 pennies are also copper. The mint must have changed the planchets in the fall of that year.

Place all the 82's you find on the other end. If they are not copper the pencil won't teter that end of the pencil down.

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

I bought one of these a few weeks ago. Takes the guess work out.

I know, I need a few thousand 82 pennies to make up for the $10 cost, but I like having it around anyway for misc purposes. It works well for weighing scrap jewlrey etc and verifying coin weights.

http://cgi.ebay.com/500g-x-0-1-Digit...3A1%7C294%3A50

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Coinflation for quick coin value info

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Re: What to look for in a jar of coins?
 

Just as an example: I went to my bank last week and bought $10 worth of pennies (20 rolls) for lookin-thru purposes. Here is how it broke down, roughly:

Zinc: @ 73%
Copper: @ 23%
1982: @ 4%

So when I do sort out the 1982 zinc from the 1982 copper, I fully expect that the copper % will be more like 25%. Not too bad considering we've been stuck with zinc pennies for 25+ years. I found a few Wheat cents and 1 Canadian cent.

The copper gets rolled, and the zinc gets rolled. The copper gets kept, the zinc returned to the bank.