1981-D OBW pennies

Twitch · Nov 20, 2016

Had an interesting week hunting. On Friday picked up two boxes of halves. First one was a skunk, 2nd one had a '92 Olympic commemorative (2nd one, 11th commemorative overall) and a proof half. 2nd roll had a '76-S BU AG (6th one). Rest of the box had 1 40%ers and 7 more proofs. Found 4 war nickels on Saturday including 2 44-S's. Got an RPM '53-S nickel. Found 13 wheaties including a 1912 and a 1919, neither rare but both old. I also found a 1981-D Lincoln OBW. So for some reason I'm conflicted as to whether I should open it or keep it as is. Thoughts?

enamel7 · Nov 21, 2016

Don't open it. No major varieties to find. I would just keep the roll. How about a pic of the rpm!

CW3(ret) US Army · Nov 23, 2016

Twitch said:
Had an interesting week hunting. On Friday picked up two boxes of halves. First one was a skunk, 2nd one had a '92 Olympic commemorative (2nd one, 11th commemorative overall) and a proof half. 2nd roll had a '76-S BU AG (6th one). Rest of the box had 1 40%ers and 7 more proofs. Found 4 war nickels on Saturday including 2 44-S's. Got an RPM '53-S nickel. Found 13 wheaties including a 1912 and a 1919, neither rare but both old. I also found a 1981-D Lincoln OBW. So for some reason I'm conflicted as to whether I should open it or keep it as is. Thoughts?

Nice finds. Hate to tell you but your 76 S can't be considered BU as you found it in a roll. I would call it AU but it's still a nice find. Congrats. Also could you please teach me what the Lincoln 81 D OBW is? I'd never heard that term before. I tried looking it up on google but it wouldn't come up.
Thanks & HH
Gary

kcm · Nov 23, 2016

As near as I can tell, OBW stands for Original Bank Wrapped. Maybe these are rolls that were purchased specially? :dontknow:

Twitch · Nov 24, 2016

CW3(RET) USARMY said:
Nice finds. Hate to tell you but your 76 S can't be considered BU as you found it in a roll. I would call it AU but it's still a nice find. Congrats. Also could you please teach me what the Lincoln 81 D OBW is? I'd never heard that term before. I tried looking it up on google but it wouldn't come up.
Thanks & HH
Gary

sure it can. BU indicates the condition of a coin, not it's history.

kcm · Nov 24, 2016

Twitch said:
sure it can. BU indicates the condition of a coin, not it's history.

...If found "IN" a roll?? That would mean it's circulated. ...I suppose it's possible for not the slightest scuff to appear on one, but seems unlikely.

boristhespider88 · Nov 24, 2016

CW3(RET) USARMY said:
Hate to tell you but your 76 S can't be considered BU as you found it in a roll. I would call it AU but it's still a nice find. Congrats.

Twitch said:
sure it can. BU indicates the condition of a coin, not it's history.

kcm said:
...If found "IN" a roll?? That would mean it's circulated. ...I suppose it's possible for not the slightest scuff to appear on one, but seems unlikely.

Twitch is correct in calling it a 'BU' coin. In 1976, there were 5 versions of the Kennedy half minted: 1976-P, 1976-D, 1976-S (clad proof), 1976-S (silver proof), and 1976-S (silver business strike). Dansco and Intercept Shield albums refer to the business strike as a "1976-S 40% Silver BU" coin.

See attached.

View attachment 1384882

kcm · Nov 24, 2016

Guess I just don't get it. If a coin is rolled by machine, then there would probably be "some" amount of damage, if only from rubbing against other coins. And if a coin was hand rolled, unless the person had gloves on, there would be fingerprints. It's difficult for me to imagine that a coin coming out of a roll could get graded as BU. "Technically" I know it's possible - but "realistically" it probably isn't, IMO.

boristhespider88 · Nov 25, 2016

kcm said:
Guess I just don't get it. If a coin is rolled by machine, then there would probably be "some" amount of damage, if only from rubbing against other coins. And if a coin was hand rolled, unless the person had gloves on, there would be fingerprints. It's difficult for me to imagine that a coin coming out of a roll could get graded as BU. "Technically" I know it's possible - but "realistically" it probably isn't, IMO.

The coin Twitch found is from a mint released set called "United States Bicentennial Silver Uncirculated Set". When released it was a BU (brilliant uncirculated) coin. He is not implying the coin he found would be graded MS or that it should even be called BU, it's just what it is commonly referred to to prevent confusion between the silver non-proof business strike coins (like the one he found) and the silver proof strike coins.

This is the BU set:
1976 3-pc 40% Silver Bicentennial Mint Set BU | US Mint Sets (1947 - Date) | APMEX

This is the proof set:
1976 3-Piece 40% Silver Bicentennial U.S. Proof Set | Proof Sets (1936 - Date) | APMEX

The BU designation he's giving to this coin has nothing to do with the current state that it's in as far as being handled, because I'm sure that it's got some kind of damage on it once it left it's cellophane packaging.

Twitch · Nov 25, 2016

I pulled ~4-5,000 individual coins from circulation today, across pennies, nickels and dimes, that would grade MS-60 or higher. Some would grade up at least into the MS-64 range which certainly should qualify as 'BU'. It is both easy and common to find BU coins in circulation. The easiest way is to find newer solid date offerings. Occasionally you find older BU coins. It happens all the time.