Coppercrazy share some of your wisdom

JimmerUSD

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Jul 12, 2013
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So I think most of us that read the CRH section of this site know you do a lot of pennies(Ya I know a lot is an understatement). Anyway I am getting two boxes of pennies with the rest of my order this week. Like most I'm sure I was wondering what is your method for going about sorting all your cents:dontknow:?
Or anyone else if you sort cents.
 

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jamesandsons

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May 14, 2013
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I basically do a single pass - sort the copper, wheats, Canadian, anything else that isn't going straight to the dump bank; sort it all at once. The only exception is with the potential error coins; I'll stack up all the 98-99-2000, 83s, 84s, etc. and look through them when I'm all done. Sometimes I do a roll at a time, sometimes I open as many as 8-10 rolls at once and sort through them. I find that easier than opening the whole box at once, but I know some people prefer that method. Curious to see how Coppercrazy does it.
 

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JimmerUSD

JimmerUSD

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That is if he decides to share his secrets. But ya I was talking about the error coins, kinda forgot to specify that part:tongue3:. It seems that it would be easier to set them aside and come back after all the others are done instead of thinking of all those possibilities at once.
 

jamesandsons

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Yeah, I didn't even look for errors the first $500 or so I searched. Then I started looking at 83's and 84's. Didn't start looking for WAM/CAM errors until I saw how much paydirt Coppercrazy was hitting on the WAMs. I can't 100% tell with the naked eye, so I find it a LOT faster to just set them aside and look at them all after everything else is done.
 

Coppercrazy

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Jun 25, 2012
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So first I'll tell you generally what I do. I date check and have a lamp that I have on that shines on the coins so I can see the date 10x easier and better. I empty two rolls on a cookie sheet and flip them all over to the obverse if I see any of the coins I check for varieties I throw them in the one of the six cups I have, one for each variety left to right: 1983s, 1984s, 1988s, 1995s, 1992s, and 98-00s in the last cup. After that, I slide the coppers over to the right upper corner of the tray and the clad int the left corner. All pre 1997 Canadians go in a separate bucket. All 82s go in the cup right in front of me. I place all my wheats and other keepers directly in front of me. After sorting through for copper vs zinc I out the copper in the large orange bucket and the zinc in the other one. I slide the copper off the tray into my hand and put them in the orange bucket, after that, i just dump the zinc in the other large bucket I have. I can manage to go through two rolls like this in about 2 minutes or a box in about an hour. Any more questions feel free to ask!

image-273858641.jpg


image-2511495010.jpg
 

Coppercrazy

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Oh and when I'm done sorting through all of them i go through and look for all the varieties afterwards it is a lot faster than checking each one as I go.
 

Coppercrazy

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I don't look for errors. I only keep the ones that are obvious when you look at them. Like a brockage or a capped die.
 

Omega

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What are you looking for in the 83s 84s 88s 92s and 95s?
 

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JimmerUSD

JimmerUSD

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What year are the WAMs? Do you use a loupe and which kind? And one last question what happened to you bankroll it went down?
 

Graceful

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You've got a great system, coppercrazy! Please explain the "88 p/d RDV-006"
 

Coppercrazy

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You've got a great system, coppercrazy! Please explain the "88 p/d RDV-006"

In 1989 the mint changed the reverse die oh so slightly on the cent. It is most noticeable from the initials "fg" on the reverse. So basically same thing happened as with the CAM, except some 1988s got left behind and got struck with the 1989 reverse die. To my understanding there has been less than 5 found of the Denver mint and considerably more of the Philadelphia mint. Unless you have incredibly good eyesight you must have a loupe to see this change. You can just take a 1989 and 1988 and compare them. Under the loupe there is a clear difference. I would post pictures but it's hard to get good ones.
 

Canadian hunter

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That is pretty much what I used to do with Canadian pennies. Felt like a cyborg after going through 4 $25 boxes straight. Yielded nice results though (Blank planchet, double clips)! Keep it up Coppercrazy!

Question on a side: What do you do with pre 1997 Canadians?
 

Coppercrazy

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That is pretty much what I used to do with Canadian pennies. Felt like a cyborg after going through 4 $25 boxes straight. Yielded nice results though (Blank planchet, double clips)! Keep it up Coppercrazy!

Question on a side: What do you do with pre 1997 Canadians?

I throw them in the small tin jar between my other two large buckets. I have about 7 lbs of Canadian copper. I'm trying to fill the whole thing up which should be around 40lbs.
 

Coppercrazy

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That is pretty much what I used to do with Canadian pennies. Felt like a cyborg after going through 4 $25 boxes straight. Yielded nice results though (Blank planchet, double clips)! Keep it up Coppercrazy!

Question on a side: What do you do with pre 1997 Canadians?

Did you do a massive amount of cents after you knew they weren't going to be minted anymore?
 

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JimmerUSD

JimmerUSD

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That would be a nightmare for you if the US decided to stop minting cents wouldn't it coppercrazy?
 

Omega

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I think by 2015 it'll be legual to melt US cents and nickels, and then by 2020 they'll stop the production of cents. Just my opinions though. Stock up on those coppers while you can! Haha
 

Canadian hunter

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Yes and no, I was mainly searching for solid 2013 mint rolls of cents (low mintage). However, I couldn't let myself miss a chance of finding good stuff like King George V and Indian Head pennies.
 

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