Any point in sorting copper cents by year/decade?

[bazmonkey]

Hey all, first post. Ever since I stumbled onto three rolls of silver dimes at work I've been sifting any coins of value in my spare time. Then, last week, I caved in and bought my first box. In that week I've been through four of them

I'm not looking to make this larger-scale than I can hand sort... I simply don't have the space for what it would become. However, I don't want this to be a complete waste of time. The zero-risk aspect of returning copper for FV is appealing, but it would be a shame to do that.

So, the question... is it worth it in any way to bother sorting the coppers? I have them separated by decade just in case. Would I be able to get a better price if I was selling rolls of, say, 1970's cents rather than just assorted copper cents? If there's no real point I won't bother. I pick out wheat cents, anything foreign, etc. If I looked for 1959-1982 key dates I'd be here forever.

Thanks!

[reddirtcoins]

maybe one day but I think the rolls of BU will fair better one day. I've taken some time and sorted bags by the year and what a pain that was. But I have serveral 59-81 (bonus 82) lots. Firgure they will just stay stack for the daughter one day.

[SilverDragon72]

Well, I have done some sorting by decade with my stash of nickels. It's mostly for collector and archiving purposes rather than higher investment. I'm putting together at least 1 tube of nickels for every year and mint as far back as I'm able to find in the wild. We'll see what happens. With my pennies, I'm going only as far back as 1990 and stopping there.

[bazmonkey]

Sorry... BU = ? Bulk unsorted?

[Rodebaugh]

Sorry... BU = ? Bulk unsorted?

Brilliant Uncirculated = Mint State.

And welcome to RC

[bazmonkey]

Thanks... my next guess was going to be bulbous umbrellas, so you save me some embarrassment

[jacer333]

Welcome baz! I bag up my coppers in $50 bags, and don't bother separating by dates. I think my excess sorting time is much better spent sifting through for wheats/indians/foreign coin.

[pennypanner]

You won't find a BU coin in circulation. AU is about as good as it gets. Just sayin'.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Welcome to Realcent!!

The only reason to sort coins by decade, year, BU vs GF, or what mint they came from is for numismatic purposes (coin collecting). Coin collectors will buy coins based on what they need to complete their collections. If you have a roll of ___fill in the blank___ and some guy needs that for his collection, he will buy it from you, and pay for the trouble you went to to gather it together.

Over a year ago I stumbled on a guy who wanted to sell his dad's collection of Washington quarters. This collection had every hard to find quarter I needed, so I could not shell out the money fast enough! Selling just one of those rare quarters would have paid for all the money I spent on the collection! Was I ever happy!!

Other than that, there is no reason to sort them by year. I still think you would want to sort the Wheat pennies from the rest of the copper cents. You can still sell Wheaties for a premium.

[NHsorter]

You won't find a BU coin in circulation. AU is about as good as it gets. Just sayin'.

Never say never. I have found some beautiful BU cents. Mostly in CWR. If I think of it later, I could do a couple scans and post it up later on. I can't be the only one on here that has found some. A few mixed in rolls, and a few rolls of solid BU & AU coins. Even a couple bright red BU wheats (not cleaned) have popped up.

[bazmonkey]

Great info, thanks. I figured someone might want a roll of some year, but it doesn't seem worth the trouble. Perhaps I'll weed out the coins in better condition, along with wheats n such.

My big grrrr right now is that none of my banks in SF (chase, wells, bofa) will take loose coin. Bofa will for $5 per 20 lbs . Rolling coins I don't want is no fun at all!

[ScottyTX]

Just because a coin has been rerolled (as in sent back to brinks/whoever for re-rolling), does not mean it is in circulated condition. I can take the plastic wrap off a new DVD and the disc inside is still brand new. A decent trained eye will be able to spot that AU-58 coin out of the bunch.... For me its not really worth the hassle to pull them out. I personally do not pay much if any of a premium for AU/BU re-rolled or bagged silver....I would expect them same for the pennies. Besides you'll have plenty of time to go back and seperate it (when copper drys up) if it becomes worth while

Scott

[RichardPenny43]

Welcome!
I would also say sorting by decade is a waste of time.

I do separate the BU's though, it only takes a second put them in another pile.

[theshoenlebens]

Welcome, I do pick out my shiners and put them in a different container. i'll put them in a wrapper sometime. I do separate my wheats into rolls by the year. I figure maybe they will be worth more later that way.

[SilverDragon72]

Thanks... my next guess was going to be bulbous umbrellas, so you save me some embarrassment

He said "bulbous" :lol

[SilverDragon72]

You won't find a BU coin in circulation. AU is about as good as it gets. Just sayin'.

Never say never. I have found some beautiful BU cents. Mostly in CWR. If I think of it later, I could do a couple scans and post it up later on. I can't be the only one on here that has found some. A few mixed in rolls, and a few rolls of solid BU & AU coins. Even a couple bright red BU wheats (not cleaned) have popped up.

I have MANY 2012 AU's!

[SilverDragon72]

Great info, thanks. I figured someone might want a roll of some year, but it doesn't seem worth the trouble. Perhaps I'll weed out the coins in better condition, along with wheats n such.

My big grrrr right now is that none of my banks in SF (chase, wells, bofa) will take loose coin. Bofa will for $5 per 20 lbs . Rolling coins I don't want is no fun at all!

Since when do these banks not take loose coin??

[bazmonkey]

I've tried two branches of each, that's the answer I get.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Welcome, I do pick out my shiners and put them in a different container. i'll put them in a wrapper sometime. I do separate my wheats into rolls by the year. I figure maybe they will be worth more later that way.

Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner!

[cesariojpn]

Hey all, first post. Ever since I stumbled onto three rolls of silver dimes at work I've been sifting any coins of value in my spare time. Then, last week, I caved in and bought my first box. In that week I've been through four of them

I'm not looking to make this larger-scale than I can hand sort... I simply don't have the space for what it would become. However, I don't want this to be a complete waste of time. The zero-risk aspect of returning copper for FV is appealing, but it would be a shame to do that.

So, the question... is it worth it in any way to bother sorting the coppers? I have them separated by decade just in case. Would I be able to get a better price if I was selling rolls of, say, 1970's cents rather than just assorted copper cents? If there's no real point I won't bother. I pick out wheat cents, anything foreign, etc. If I looked for 1959-1982 key dates I'd be here forever.

Thanks!

Alot of the DDO's/RPM's/errors happen within a decade or two of each other. Many are within the 1965-1975 range, with your smattering from the 50's/early 60's to the early 80's.