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scored a 1974 and 1976 (both S) proofs running a bag. i double triple checked looking for that 75 but could not find it.

Nice!
I found two 72 S proofs two weeks in a row
Post them in the Proof Tracking
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=456

How can you tell if they're proof?

Be aware, 1968 to 1974 S mints are not all proofs, most of them are circulation strikes during those years. A lot of people think they have proofs during those years when they actually only have regular circulation strikes. Proof only S mints didn't start till 1975.

I found my only known proof a few weeks ago, a 2007 S. It feels weird, like it's lightweight zinc. I found a 82 i think might be a proof, but it's too scratched for me to really tell if the mintmark is a D or a S.

GGerrands wrote:I found a 82 i think might be a proof, but it's too scratched for me to really tell if the mintmark is a D or a S.

One thing to note is that the 82 proofs were COPPER. First step is to weigh it. If it's zinc, it's not a proof.

wont proofs get "banged up" being in circulation?

penny pretty wrote:wont proofs get "banged up" being in circulation?

Of course they will get "banged up". Just look at beauanderos, he's "proof" that if something has been in circulation long enough, it's gonna get pretty "banged up"

penny pretty wrote:wont proofs get "banged up" being in circulation?

Maybe a little...

On the subject of 'S' mint coppers from 1968-1974 .... (regular circulation coins, not proofs)...what do the experts (or anyone) feel about separating them from the rest of the common copper of those years? Any added benefit when selling them?

Thanks very much for any replies!

I save them. Simply because the 1968-S has the lowest mintage of any circulation strike Lincoln Memorial cent. Now, that fact ALONE doesn't mean the S-mems are (or will be) WORTH more, but I don't really need them to be worth more in order to like saving them.
Now that I Ryedale sort though, I only save them if I happen to see one, and it looks nice. I don't take the time to go through hundreds of dollars of coppers to be sure I get them all - it's not worth my time.
In the future, when/if the copper supply dries up, I will have some of them set back, and might look through them to find repunched mint marks or other fun stuff.

Sheba wrote:On the subject of 'S' mint coppers from 1968-1974 .... (regular circulation coins, not proofs)...what do the experts (or anyone) feel about separating them from the rest of the common copper of those years? Any added benefit when selling them?

Thanks very much for any replies!

Worth seperating if you are hand sorting. Not worth seperating by doing an extra hand sort after you do a machine sort. I have done a few checks of bags to see how many S mints are normally in a copper mix. After removing the zinc only 5-7% of the copper cents in a bag are S mints. And that is from a location only 40 miles from that ming. As you go further east the percentage of S mints tends to drop off significantly. I think I read something a while back about them only making up .5-1% of copper bags sorted on the east coast.

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:

Sheba wrote:On the subject of 'S' mint coppers from 1968-1974 .... (regular circulation coins, not proofs)...what do the experts (or anyone) feel about separating them from the rest of the common copper of those years? Any added benefit when selling them?

Thanks very much for any replies!

Worth seperating if you are hand sorting. Not worth seperating by doing an extra hand sort after you do a machine sort. I have done a few checks of bags to see how many S mints are normally in a copper mix. After removing the zinc only 5-7% of the copper cents in a bag are S mints. And that is from a location only 40 miles from that ming. As you go further east the percentage of S mints tends to drop off significantly. I think I read something a while back about them only making up .5-1% of copper bags sorted on the east coast.

I'm on the East Coast, and I hand sort $5.00 worth of pennies per week. I save the "S" mint memorials. Usually, I find 1 or 2 per week (and the 74-S is the one I usually find)--about the same as the number of wheat cents I find.

I found a 99 S from a vermont bank I pick up from.