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For the last 5-6 years I've been a small-time penny sorter. I search $5.00 in customer wrapped rolls every week. I do it mostly for a hobby, as a way to relax for an hour on Saturday morning. In addition to the copper, I've been working on filling a 1909 to 2009 Dansco album (thanks to Joe and Franklin Henry for the inspiration to start that project!!). I've also found the following "milestones" in my penny sorting journey: Indian head cent (this weekend!), steel cent, proof cent, blank planchet, mint "token" from uncirculated set, silver dime in penny roll, play money penny, penny stamped with state outline and initial, penny stamped with Kennedy facing Lincoln. The last of the major "milestones" I haven't met yet is finding a 1909 Lincoln.

My question to you all is: what are your "milestones"? If I find that 1909 Lincoln what should be my next penny sorting goal? Thanks in advance!

With all the pennies I've gone through over the years, I've never found a steel cent in change or in rolls from a bank. I have, however, found a bunch of (several dozen) war nickels.

Anytime I find a wheat penny, I consider that to be a minor milestone, even though they aren't worth much.

Congrats! Those are some pretty big milestones. I have never found a steel cent either. The silver dime in a penny roll is super sweet!

John Reich wrote: silver dime in penny roll. The last of the major "milestones" I haven't met yet is finding a 1909 Lincoln.

My question to you all is: what are your "milestones"? If I find that 1909 Lincoln what should be my next penny sorting goal? Thanks in advance!

That Silver dime is a super rare find...more rare than an Indian head.

Keep looking for a 1922 "plain" that is a Super Duper find ranking right up there with a 1909 S

Recyclersteve wrote:With all the pennies I've gone through over the years, I've never found a steel cent in change or in rolls from a bank. I have, however, found a bunch of (several dozen) war nickels.

Anytime I find a wheat penny, I consider that to be a minor milestone, even though they aren't worth much.

As a kid back in the early 70's trying to fill Lincoln cent albums from change and roll searching, I never found a steel cent either. I guess Thogey's widows have been putting them back into circulation around here!

Thought you all might like this story: in 1955 I was 10 and starting to collect pennies. Whitman books. I couldn't find "lead pennies". I told my grandfather, in another little town where they lived. He put an ad in the paper--he used to own the newspaper and was retired--offering 2 cents apiece for them. In 2 weeks people brought over 200 by the house where he and my grandma lived, to pick up their reward. He put their address and phone number in then ad. Their town was bigger than ours. Still, when you picked up the phone you clicked the receiver holder (candlestick phones) and told Effie the number you wanted. It started in the 30's w/ 3 digit numbers, but by then there were four. We didn't have a phone. life in rural southern California was great back then........good luck.............h

This week I found my first silver in a cent roll, 1943 Australian six pence. It improved my mood, a bit.

coppernickel wrote:This week I found my first silver in a cent roll, 1943 Australian six pence. It improved my mood, a bit.

That's very interesting. The only silver I ever found in a cent roll was 1943 New Zealand 6-pence.

I remembered today... I haven't found a KG V cent in a roll yet. My next goal!

I've found a hot chocolate tin worth of wheats sorting Canadian pennies. Found a few George V pennies. A 1940's Newfoundland George VI was one of my coolist finds though.

I just broke into a fresh box I picked up today, I've been sorting since 2009 when the 2009's came out is when I started sorting pennies. I've sorted allot, I had over $1000 in coppers at one time, well I moved a few times, stopped sorting for a few years, stored them at my brothers house for a while, sold some, cashed some in, and now I only have about $250, well anyways, I just finally found my first Indian Head, 1897, and it's black, also found a 1944 clean Canadian in the same box which is half sorted. Also found this not to long ago..

Nothing special just a different box.

Well, it's taken 6 years but last week I finally found a 1909 Lincoln cent in a CWR from my local bank. Philadelphia, no VDB, but a nice VF coin. I'm still searching $5.00 face per week and had been thinking about giving it up due to low copper percentages. I actually got 3 rolls of wheats from my favorite teller. The branch manager told me that an older gentleman had brought them in. He also had a ROLL of Indian cents dated 1879-1909 that the tellers divided up among themselves. They said they told the man the coins had some value but he wanted to get rid of them. A Thogey's widower I guess. I asked if he had brought any other coins in and they said there was a roll of silver dimes--a mixture of Roosies and Mercs. In the 3 rolls of wheats, I found 6 other pre 1940's--the rest of the coins were common dates from the 40's and 50's. I'm sure glad I didn't give up the hunt! I'm still looking for my first Canadian King George V small cent for my next penny sorting milestone.

I posted this elsewhere as well, but found an 1872 Indian cent today from a customer wrapped roll of cents. Obverse was scratched and VG. Reverse was Fine-VF. I would have preferred the scratches on the reverse as the coin would have been easier to sell that way.

It was likely the first ever 150 year old coin I've found in many years of collecting!