Biggest heartbreak!!

[Arthur-Dent]

Being involved with the coin world, the number one heartbreaking moment that I have witnessed over the years, is when someone goes to retire or pay for their kids college tuition with their shiny 1982-D small date copper cent!
Oh the heartbreak and disbelief when you tell someone else that the coin they have been saving all these years...is worth one cent!

Yep. Even seen people get downright nasty and the expert must be wrong.
Sorry, that's a large date.
Well, okay, its a small date, but zinc..sorry.

Have any similar stories ?

 

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[moff347]

I did not realize that this was a rarity. I just did some research and see that there have only been 2 pieces discovered. I personally have boxes of copper cents that I have horded away over the years while going through cent boxes. I guess its time to break some out and start looking for this error. Maybe I will get lucky.

 

[Clad2Silver]

As a former coin and precious metals dealer I can tell you that a LOT of people tried to sell things that they thought were worth a fortune only to be badly disappointed when they were told what the real value of what they had was very little or a lot less than what they thought. Some of those folks did indeed get a little, and sometimes, REALLY nasty. Human nature I suppose......

 

[Tommybuckets]

Yes I always offer to look over coins people have been saving and they think it will be worth a fortune. So far I have not seen anything worth a fortune and feel like the bearer of bad tidings.

 

[PetesPockets55]

I was at the flea market when this guy struck up a conversation after hearing me talk about wheat cents.
He went on to say his buddy passed away and had two buckets full of coins. One was 45 lbs of wheats and the other was about 30lbs of '43 steelies and he paid his buddies widow $50 each for the buckets. He said he didn't have the energy, knowledge or patience to look through them.
I went on to explain he had about 6,750 wheats worth about 3-5 each depending on how beat up they were or weren't. I wasn't interested in the steelies because they are usually nothing but rust in this Florida humidity or replated garbage, but I calculated in my head the steelies might be worth about $400-$500 to someone.
I offered $250 for the wheats and he said no, he would just hang onto them which really didn't bother me. It did bother me and irk me that he shorted his "buddies" widow and just really low balled her, because he actually thought they were worth more when he bought them. I'd come back from the grave if a buddy cheated my widow like he did.

Maybe I should have offered him more if he promised to share it with the widow!

 

[Arthur-Dent]

I did not realize that this was a rarity. I just did some research and see that there have only been 2 pieces discovered. I personally have boxes of copper cents that I have horded away over the years while going through cent boxes. I guess its time to break some out and start looking for this error. Maybe I will get lucky.

I'm fuzzy on the details, but if I remember correctly, the last 82-D small date was found by someone like you. The guy had been saving copper cents forever, and found an example in his pile.
You never know.

 

[Clad2Silver]

I was at the flea market when this guy struck up a conversation after hearing me talk about wheat cents.
He went on to say his buddy passed away and had two buckets full of coins. One was 45 lbs of wheats and the other was about 30lbs of '43 steelies and he paid his buddies widow $50 each for the buckets. He said he didn't have the energy, knowledge or patience to look through them.
I went on to explain he had about 6,750 wheats worth about 3-5 each depending on how beat up they were or weren't. I wasn't interested in the steelies because they are usually nothing but rust in this Florida humidity or replated garbage, but I calculated in my head the steelies might be worth about $400-$500 to someone.
I offered $250 for the wheats and he said no, he would just hang onto them which really didn't bother me. It did bother me and irk me that he shorted his "buddies" widow and just really low balled her, because he actually thought they were worth more when he bought them. I'd come back from the grave if a buddy cheated my widow like he did.

Maybe I should have offered him more if he promised to share it with the widow!

Nothing like taking advantage of someone.....some "buddy" that guy turned out to be. Since he claimed to have no energy, knowledge, or patience to look through them I wonder why he even bought them in the first place.

 

[Arthur-Dent]

Coins+Honor are a rare commodity nowadays if ever.
I'm serious.
I hated the first time I tested my so called trust worthy friends.
Have your millennial aged granddaughter take a CC Morgan and any 2 1/2 dollar GC to your friends who own the LCS's and have her ask them what these funny looking coins are!
75% of the people who I had business dealings with failed the test saying that they were basically worthless!
Keep your inner circle small!

 

[A2coins]

Just watch pawn stars

 

[dejapooh]

I started to Collect Olympic Pins in 1984, when the games were in Los Angeles. During and after the games, there was a real craze going on. The values of some pins skyrocketed. I know of one family that put their infant's daughter's college fund into pins, and I'll bet they were pretty disappointed when the $10,000 they spent was now worth about $5.

 

[BC1969]

The bugger in question..
1982-D small date zinc.

 

[PetesPockets55]

Yes it is and it does appear zinc to me.

Bc, was there a question as well?

 

[BC1969]

Yes it is and it does appear zinc to me.

Bc, was there a question as well?

No sir!
I love your informative posts on CC!
That coop is a living legend.
I only lurk there.
Read and commit to memory.
I doubt I'd ever post there.
I'm overly sensitive and those guys can be downright brutally honest.
Learning is progressing well!
Having severe difficulties with doubled dies that have DDD and MD present too!
Wow is all I can say about spending an hour staring at a single cent so I can find the next attribution before E&V ( another legend ) and the bat hunter!

 

[PetesPockets55]

Thanks BC and so true. Lots of knowledgeable people here as well.
It gets frustrating for the new collector because they may not know proper terms and lingo. We've all been through that. The people that have been doing it a long time hear the same questions over and over, and tend to reply short and sweet answers as a time saver. That doesn't necessarily help a newer collector learn. But I certainly understand it and have been there myself. I've been lucky with in-the-know people who I found when I got back into it 6 years ago.

I still consider myself in the early learning stages. But it is like metal detecting or learning a new language, the more you do it the more it "clicks" and starts to be easier to undetstand the little nuances.

Coop is amazingly helpful with his info, images, insight and patience. (As are a lot of others at CCF)

And when posting coins anywhere just remember to include as many specifics as your knowledge allows. Error coins are tough because so much PSD looks similar. Newer collectors should probably ask questions without preconcieved ideas unless they are able to match an exact variety based on markers at known sites and always assume an "error coin" is actually PSD. Percentages will probably go up when we start at zero.

 

[BC1969]

Coop's overlays are the best thing since sliced bread!
I don't know what kind of error Hunter I am, but at this point I primarily am interested in finding the tiny clashes that the diemaker missed in polishing out a clashed pair of dies.
I've been told that I have sniper eyes.
I have eidetic memory.
The slightest difference on cents primarily appear to me instantly.
I is very interesting.
I guess you could say that I am a pattern coin hunter.
I've found nine unique slight hair die variations on 90's era zincolns.
How many different dies exist ? Who only knows, I doubt the Mint knows either.

Anyways, I ramble often.
Another reason I don't post there.
I just love learning.
I think I found a doubled die on an Apollo 13 token...I can't help myself.
Sitting at my desk looking at a chuck-e-cheese token through my loupe lol

 

[PetesPockets55]

I think most of us coin nerds can relate to not being able to help ourselves and it's nice to find like-minded souls.

 

[ARC]

Coop's overlays are the best thing since sliced bread!
I don't know what kind of error Hunter I am, but at this point I primarily am interested in finding the tiny clashes that the diemaker missed in polishing out a clashed pair of dies.
I've been told that I have sniper eyes.
I have eidetic memory.
The slightest difference on cents primarily appear to me instantly.
I is very interesting.
I guess you could say that I am a pattern coin hunter.
I've found nine unique slight hair die variations on 90's era zincolns.
How many different dies exist ? Who only knows, I doubt the Mint knows either.

Anyways, I ramble often.
Another reason I don't post there.
I just love learning.
I think I found a doubled die on an Apollo 13 token...I can't help myself.
Sitting at my desk looking at a chuck-e-cheese token through my loupe lol

Hmmm ...

I too am looking for a Chuck-E-Cheese error token. :P

 

[PetesPockets55]

Nothing like taking advantage of someone.....some "buddy" that guy turned out to be. Since he claimed to have no energy, knowledge, or patience to look through them I wonder why he even bought them in the first place.

Exactly my thoughts. He made no mention of giving the widow more $, he was only interested in how much he would make.