To spend or to keep?

[Midden-marauder]

Well I get into metal detecting and now I have a growing coin hoard. Sadly I can't seem to get a break with dates: one, ONE whole pre 1960 in the mix, all else is from the early 60s to present.
Basically I have a growing number of 60s-70s coins, mostly pennies but we have a few other denominations too.
Damn things ain't worth much or so my research tells me, I do need to go through them and pick out any unusual mints but other than the concentration of precious metal being higher in older coins it's not clear that these are anything to really care about. Or are they?
Basically my question here is: should I set aside any pre 1980 coinage and just sit on it? Collect it I suppose? I'm blessed in that many of them are in great condition, older coins come out of the ground looking better than modern for sure. Should I keep these guys or are they coinstar fodder?

 

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[Peyton Manning]

If it isn’t silver or unusual I cash them in

 

[pepperj]

Well I get into metal detecting and now I have a growing coin hoard. Sadly I can't seem to get a break with dates: one, ONE whole pre 1960 in the mix, all else is from the early 60s to present.
Basically I have a growing number of 60s-70s coins, mostly pennies but we have a few other denominations too.
Damn things ain't worth much or so my research tells me, I do need to go through them and pick out any unusual mints but other than the concentration of precious metal being higher in older coins it's not clear that these are anything to really care about. Or are they?
Basically my question here is: should I set aside any pre 1980 coinage and just sit on it? Collect it I suppose? I'm blessed in that many of them are in great condition, older coins come out of the ground looking better than modern for sure. Should I keep these guys or are they coinstar fodder?

If I remember right you only use a pin pointer to detect.
Getting any coinage pre 1960 will be a challenge for sure.
So getting a key date also will be site dependent (shallow targets)

Unless they're really clean the Coinstar machine will fill the reject tray probably as they've got environmental damage and it won't like the coin.
Some folks spend, cash in and buy a silver rounds with the clad.

 

[releventchair]

That's on you.
You get over ten pounds for example and for portability's sake it might suit you better to exchange them for something more portable.
Unless you want to long term gamble on copper futures.
While knowing that if copper value was to skyrocket ; now closed or slow copper projects would get more ambitious.

I see copper ingots (crude like no possible way a top refinery did them ) at auction now and then.
One day I visited the physical site and a couple folks had traveled a decent (distant) ways to acquire such. The older guy seemed happy about scoring and I didn't ask his business with a lot of copper.

There are some folks sitting on old copper cents. For the copper value it seems mostly. How and where to store them when volume starts getting substantial (more than you can carry in one trip) would seem worth studying in advance if you get ambitious.

 

[Bucket Lister]

I would keep the pre-zinc pennies, and spend the clad.

I've got some rolls of older pennies, and while they're not worth much, they don't take up a lot of space either. YMMV.

 

[Midden-marauder]

If I remember right you only use a pin pointer to detect.
Getting any coinage pre 1960 will be a challenge for sure.
So getting a key date also will be site dependent (shallow targets)

Unless they're really clean the Coinstar machine will fill the reject tray probably as they've got environmental damage and it won't like the coin.
Some folks spend, cash in and buy a silver rounds with the clad.

Yeah, I exchange out roughies I find, assuming they're still in spendable condition. I actually have a little hustle going there so my jar is full of coin in good condition to a large extent. I've used my larger coil but probably due to the places I search I can't expect anything older than 1940s, places with (known) older are not terribly accessible to me at this time so I settle for just finding loose change. My oldest to date was a 1939 penny but it's in dreadful condition. Oldest in collection is 1955. On the whole I've done ok with finding coin but nothing obviously collectable.

 

[Bucket Lister]

Oldest in collection is 1955.

DD? 🤔😁🤣

 

[robertk]

Basically I have a growing number of 60s-70s coins, mostly pennies but we have a few other denominations too.

US dimes/quarters/halves from 1964 and earlier are 90% silver. And halves from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver. I'd keep all of those. The rest could be spent. (Pennies from 1982 and earlier are copper, so worth more than face value, but it would take a ton of them to make any significant money.)

 

[Mackaydon]

Today, I save only pre 1934 cents, pre WWII 5-cent pieces and pre 1965 dimes and quarters; the rest I spend at 7-11 or Walmart. Unfortunately, what I save today is rarely seen in my scoop. Gone are the good hunting days I experienced 40-50 years ago when silver coins were abundant and near the surface.
Don in SoCal.

 

[robertk]

Gone are the good hunting days I experienced 40-50 years ago when silver coins were abundant and near the surface.

That must have been really something. I could fit all the silver coins I've found in my entire life in one hand, and still have plenty of room left over.

 

[Midden-marauder]

To clarify, I'm not a coin collector ironically. I hoard the modern coin I find, swap out roughies and try to keep it "coinstar grade". May as well, modern money has actual measurable value, more value indeed than much of the rusty, dusty what-the-heck-did-i-just-dig-ups that dominate the situation lol. If I set aside the old stuff or the unusual it's probably going to end up being handed over to my partner who fancies neat little trinkets and relics. Indeed, the whole reason I got into this was for her, to find very specific types of relics and I have been quite successful in that regard. I don't collect much of anything shy of the things I make for myself so finding modern coins is fine by me, they spend. The question simply was: should I save these 60s-70s coins and I'm gathering that the answer might be yes at least with the oldest stuff. Once I have a nice little pile I'll shoot em to my girlfriend and she'll stash em in her little reliquary. What was in the ground 50 years ago is now displaced by newer relics from a similar time relative to the current I suppose. The oldest stuff only gets rarer no matter where you go

 

[Midden-marauder]

DD? 🤔😁🤣

I've yet to examine it under magnification but my assumption is probably not lol. I need to look at all the older coins I've gathered that's in good condition and see if I happen to be sitting on anything special. Also probably not but my expectations aren't unrealistic, I live smack in the heart of a state that's been a state less than 200 years, even the old dump sites I tend to frequent yield nothing older than 1900. Possibly some of the ghost towns here might yield up something with more dust on it but even many of those were established after 1900. Adjusted expectations, also too adjusted ideal targets. I found my first piece of modern silver jewelry not too long ago, it was small but encouraging, I'm holding out for that modern 24 karat engagement band lol. the trick becomes finding new drop sites after I hunt each one dry, I'm good with modern goodies but show me the stuff with meaningful value, I don't care if it's 5 years old or a 100, if it's worth either money or has meaningful historic value, a valuable is a valuable and if I'm gonna be taking time out of other hobbies to pursue this then that's exactly what I seek.

 

[cudamark]

In my case, zinc and clad get spent, everything else gets saved until the metal value goes high enough to sell. Totally arbitrary and subjective IMO.

 

[Bernitup]

Well I get into metal detecting and now I have a growing coin hoard. Sadly I can't seem to get a break with dates: one, ONE whole pre 1960 in the mix, all else is from the early 60s to present.
Basically I have a growing number of 60s-70s coins, mostly pennies but we have a few other denominations too.
Damn things ain't worth much or so my research tells me, I do need to go through them and pick out any unusual mints but other than the concentration of precious metal being higher in older coins it's not clear that these are anything to really care about. Or are they?
Basically my question here is: should I set aside any pre 1980 coinage and just sit on it? Collect it I suppose? I'm blessed in that many of them are in great condition, older coins come out of the ground looking better than modern for sure. Should I keep these guys or are they coinstar fodder?

I personally save the pre 1982 Pennie’s for copper content as well as anything silver… I also keep most of the nickels I come across then I spend the rest. I’ll check for known errors or quickly scan everything before I get rid of it, but it’s only worth face value, which continues to dwindle, so there is no point in me keeping it.

I recommend others do the same.…the metal content in both the pre ‘82 pennies and the nickels are currently worth way more than the face value and I do not see that coming down much if any for the foreseeable future. Considering the state of the world, the increase In production of electrical products and the direction things seem to be going, nickel and copper will both go up. Silver is a gem, highly undervalued, so stack it high!

 

[Midden-marauder]

I personally save the pre 1982 Pennie’s for copper content as well as anything silver… I also keep most of the nickels I come across then I spend the rest. I’ll check for known errors or quickly scan everything before I get rid of it, but it’s only worth face value, which continues to dwindle, so there is no point in me keeping it.

I recommend others do the same.…the metal content in both the pre ‘82 pennies and the nickels are currently worth way more than the face value and I do not see that coming down much if any for the foreseeable future. Considering the state of the world, the increase In production of electrical products and the direction things seem to be going, nickel and copper will both go up. Silver is a gem, highly undervalued, so stack it high!

I notice too just how poor quality modern clad is, pennies especially get destroyed after even a short time in the elements. Nearly all the very finest specimens I've found are pre 1980, usually with a nice platina and pretty crisp features. I like finding them just because they've retained their value and form well.

 

[Midden-marauder]

Today, I save only pre 1934 cents, pre WWII 5-cent pieces and pre 1965 dimes and quarters; the rest I spend at 7-11 or Walmart. Unfortunately, what I save today is rarely seen in my scoop. Gone are the good hunting days I experienced 40-50 years ago when silver coins were abundant and near the surface.
Don in SoCal.

Yesterday's vintage is now antique, and today's vintage was the coin being minted all those years ago. I suppose simply holding onto them might amount to something in due time, maybe in my lifetime

 

[Trezurehunter]

I only keep silver coins and pennies that are 1981 and earlier for the copper. Everything else gets tumbled, taken to the bank and cashed in, so I can go buy silver bullion with the "garbage coins" .

 

[Mackaydon]

With few exceptions, If you're collecting clad, that portion of your collection is losing annually by the rate of inflation.
Don in SoCal

 

[xr7ator]

Hey Don. I'll take all of your 42 through 45 nickels since you only keep pre WWII!

 

[Midden-marauder]

With few exceptions, If you're collecting clad, that portion of your collection is losing annually by the rate of inflation.
Don in SoCal

The clad is hoarded, to be cashed in later for whatever it's worth. Earlier stuff is gonna get cashed in too unless it's pre 1960 which is apparently the hardest coin for me to find. I find relics from pre 1930 in some places I go but no coin from that era as of yet. Actually the coin hunting saga often takes a turn for the weird on most of my hunts, I find modern foreign coin and trade tokens more than old coins. Go figure. Eventually something with a bit more dust on it will turn up, the older they are the more sparse they seem to get