8000 cents searched - full stats

[jamesandsons]

I picked up $30 in bank-rolled cents on Saturday, and decided to dump them all out on the dining room table at once. Then I decided to go crazy and open the 2 Loomis cent boxes I'd been hoarding for a rainy day. Here's what $80 in cents looked like on my table (along with my son and his multi-purpose spelunking/coin searching headlamp.



That was about 4pm on Saturday. We spent a few hours sorting on Saturday night, and a few hours here and there yesterday. Finally finished them when I woke up around 11:30 last night and pushed hard for about 90 minutes.

For once I managed to keep pretty good stats on the entire search, so I thought I'd share them here for kicks. Here goes:

8,000 cents searched

2,267 total Lincoln copper cents (28.3%)

44 wheat cents (1 in every 182 coins or 3.6 rolls) (quite a bit better than average - I usually get 10-12 per box)
-oldest: 1927-D
-8 pre-1940
-11 1940s
-25 1950s (7 58-Ds)

16 "S" (1968-74) (these seem to be drying up - or my eyes are getting bad and I'm missing them)

16 Canadian (oldest was '63) (very low total; I often get that many out of a box)

259 1982s
-202 copper (78%)
-57 zinc (22%)

45 AU 2009s (haven't broken them up by design)

So that's it. Not the most exciting rolls, but pretty good numbers on wheats.

How does this compare to the boxes you've been searching lately?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[billionaire]

I get less wheats more canadian and about the same amount of copper. I dont keep any S mints. Is there a numismatic value for them?

 

[Wickaboag]

My averages are around 25% copper. 10-15 wheats. And 1-3 2009s.
I did the same thing once. Binge hunting is bad for you though. You get coin drunk :/









Fun fun ;-)
Sweet finds!
Wicka

 

[jamesandsons]

I get less wheats more canadian and about the same amount of copper. I dont keep any S mints. Is there a numismatic value for them?

I typically get less wheats and more Canadian myself. Not sure on the copper ratio, but I think it's about typical for me.

The S mints don't have any sort of huge premium, but I hunt 'em mainly just because they are rare (in the wild). Someone recently posted an excellent guide to sorting & selling copper cents, and he recommended keeping the S cents out and selling them in separate lots because they fetch a small premium over regular copper. For as rare as they are, and as low as that extra premium is, though, it probably isn't worth the effort strictly from a profit perspective. Just something I find fun/interesting.

 

[SilverForBrains]

Sounds about what I normally find, wheats are good around here usually 15-20 per box. usually only a few under 1940 though

 

[Omega]

I only get 16~17% copper

 

[CC-Hunter]

Speaking of bad eyes, when I started coin collecting in earnest a few years ago I located what I thought was a 1931-D in some coins I inherited from a relative and put the coin in a 2x2, and marked it as a 1931-D. Just this weekend I looked at it with a loupe and say that it was a 1931-S! Quite a difference in value. I hope my eyes didn't fail me with a lot of other wheats I sold off in bulk earlier this summer.

 

[jamesandsons]

Speaking of bad eyes, when I started coin collecting in earnest a few years ago I located what I thought was a 1931-D in some coins I inherited from a relative and put the coin in a 2x2, and marked it as a 1931-D. Just this weekend I looked at it with a loupe and say that it was a 1931-S! Quite a difference in value. I hope my eyes didn't fail me with a lot of other wheats I sold off in bulk earlier this summer.

The "stuff you didn't know you had in your own stash" finds are some of the best finds. I found a 1998 Wide AM cent in my son's coin album last week. Not in the same category as your find, but a pleasant surprise.

 

[1more4me]

That's alot to binge on at once! I got 3 boxes ($75) stacked on the table- but have't found the time to even get started. They been there for 2 weeks...
With that many 1982's --- try to find all 7 varietys. That .07 cent group sells for a pretty good premium if you're into that.
The small date-zinc-P is the one I can't seem to find in decent shape. Then, if you find an 82-small date-copper-D <--- you'll be the first to discover the 8th!!!
PEACE

 

[Hunter612]

Speaking of bad eyes, when I started coin collecting in earnest a few years ago I located what I thought was a 1931-D in some coins I inherited from a relative and put the coin in a 2x2, and marked it as a 1931-D. Just this weekend I looked at it with a loupe and say that it was a 1931-S! Quite a difference in value. I hope my eyes didn't fail me with a lot of other wheats I sold off in bulk earlier this summer.

I have that problem too, and I am only 15. I cannot see clearly out of my left eye, so when I stress to look at things it strains my right eye. If I didn't have a loupe I don't know what I would do. D and S mintmarks look the same to me when I am not using a loupe or if I don't have my glasses. Happy hunting!