Help a newbie improve

[Sanford02]

Hi everyone,

I have lurked at the old forum for a while, and I just registered here. I have recently started hand sorting just for the fun of it. I am not trying to break any records, but I plan to keep sorting at a leisurely pace.

I usually sort 5-10 dollars at a time, and so far I have about $10 FV in copper as well as some canadians and wheats.

My biggest question is whether or not I should keep the ugly gross green nasty copper pennies separate from the clean/brown/shiny ones.

If I mix them up, will the green junk spread and degrade the quality of my copper? I assume that if I ever decide to sell any, that potential buyers will prefer relatively clean coins. Some of mine are completely green and gross and sticky, but others only have some small green spots.

For now, I separate and keep canadian coppers, wheats, 1982 coppers, and all 59-82.

Thanks!

[fasteddy]

some say copper is copper and save all CU cents togther....many also sort out the green and nasties and either return those cents or save them and then sell as ugly abe's....i personally remove the superior nasty and green cents and save for future reclamation. Do what you feel is good for you...any way is good as long as you are saving Cu. Some Even SaveThe Bright And Shiny Cu Cents And Sell Those As Premium Copper Cents....

[jasmatk]

save them up till you get a hand full put in a bowl cover with white vinagar add tablespoon salt stir let sit for hour or 2 wash them off green will be gone and they will be clean

[NotABigDeal]

I'm one of those, "copper is copper" people. Of course, I don't sort anything out of my coppers....

Deal

[Country]

Welcome!!

I only handsort, but I use a Rydale Ace to speed things up. I separate out the Ugly Abes and roll them up. When I get 50 rolls of Ugly Abes, I put them all in an empty $25 box and mark the box as containing Ugly Abe Coppers. I do the same with the 1982s. I keep the nice clean coppers, 1959-1981, in separate boxes too. I guess it's a lot of work, but I like knowing that the clean coppers are really nice stuff that someday someone would appreciate. When the crisis time comes, the Ugly Abe copper boxes will be the first to go.

[Sanford02]

Thanks for the replies so far.

So if I keep them all together, will the green gunk spread to the rest of the pennies over time?

Thanks.

[JadeDragon]

Not really - the green does not really spread like leprosy. http://www.finishing.com/261/74.shtml Copper + moisture makes the green develop, so if you are storing your pennies in a dry area (even mixed ugly abes and prettier coins) the green should not spread. Mind you, that might not be true in a climate with a lot of humidity in the air.

[Copper Catcher]

Sanford02 welcome to the forum and the fun! I live in an area with high humidity so I tend to toss the all green ones back in circulation. I don't get that many green or overly dirty coins so it has not been any real issue. Regardless of your choice to keep or toss back, take your time and enjoy the thrill of the hunt. If you go too hard to too fast it becomes more like work and you might lose interest. So relax and enjoy...

Also, to break things up a bit you might want to check to see if your bank has any half dollars. You can still find 40% as well as 90% silver mixed in with the regular halves... Yesterday I picked up $170 in halves and found 7 40% and one 90% Franklin dated 1963! I was thrilled......

[PreservingThePast]

Thanks for the replies so far.

So if I keep them all together, will the green gunk spread to the rest of the pennies over time?

Thanks.

From personal experience and speaking with my brother who has collected coins for more than 50 years, yes the verdigris (green stuff) will spread when it touches another coin.

At the coin show this past Saturday I had the opportunity to buy two rolls of 1955 wheats for 5 cents each. I knew they wouldn't be BU coins and wasn't expecting that for the price. These were circulated coins with varying degree of wear, etc. However, there were quite a few coins with the green verdigris on it and I kept the coins in the same order that they were in inside the wrapper and as I looked at each coin where one had been touching a coin covered in the nasty, green stuff the coin that had touched it was also beginning to grow some of the green stuff in the area where contact had occurred.

So, if you want nice shiny ones to stay that way, don't intermingle with nasty ones. ALSO, and this may not be as much of a concern today as it was in the past, but many of the much older coin paper wrappers had some sort of chemical reaction to the coins that caused them to become gross. Not the green stuff, but just didn't keep them nice and shiny although you could tell that the coins had been BU when they were originally put into the roll. Maybe it is something similar to in today's world being careful to only put photos, etc, near archival safe (acid free/lignin free) paper.

I've also heard to be careful allowing coins with different metal compositions from touching one another as there can sometimes be a reaction from the various metals.

So much to learn in this hobby. That's one of the reasons that makes it so much fun.

Enjoy your coin searches, everyone.

[Sanford02]

Thanks again for all the replies. I am finding this to be a really fun hobby. I started with halves, but never found any silver, and it was a little too expensive. Cents are fun because the copper is plentiful, and there are enough wheats and canadians to keep the excitement going.

One thing I have found quite interesting....out of all the canadians I have found, only one of them was post 1990. All the others were older (and therefore copper) canadian pennies.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[Sanford02]

After about 2-3 weeks of hand sorting, I have about 13 pounds of copper pennies. I drive by at least a dozen banks as I conduct my routine daily business, so I stop in each one about once a week and buy 10 rolls of pennies. I figure I won't raise too many eyebrows doing that.

I also found almost 50 wheats and about 15 canadians. I'm having tons of fun.

[Sheba]

I think that's an excellent way to do things if a person has access to a number of banks. At least as a low volume hand sorter, I do that too. Stop and get $5.00 -$10.00 at most of pennies. Very seldom have I been turned down becasue "you dont' have an account with our bank". Most of the time, everyone is happy to give you a few rolls of pennies in exchange for those pieces of greenish paper

Keep up the good work!

sheba

[misteroman]

Sanford, just think when you get to the point of by those dozen banks and stopping and getting 2-4 boxes of each. Think big lol!

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Why think small misteroman? You are supposed to think about getting 24 boxes from each of those banks.

[Sanford02]

I think that's an excellent way to do things if a person has access to a number of banks. At least as a low volume hand sorter, I do that too. Stop and get $5.00 -$10.00 at most of pennies. Very seldom have I been turned down becasue "you dont' have an account with our bank". Most of the time, everyone is happy to give you a few rolls of pennies in exchange for those pieces of greenish paper

Keep up the good work!

sheba

I just started bying boxes from a good supply bank where my non-profit has an account, but I still stop by the dozen or so other banks that I drive past each day. I use my chaff from searching halves to buy $5-10 at a time. Only once did anyone ask if I had an account. I acted like I didn't know any better and they sold me the pennies anyway. Its a good way to get rid of your halves, and it allows me more pennies without wearing out my supply bank.