Noob hand sorting!

[Tantalar]

Hey all i am new here. I just started sorting pennies (I work at a gas station full time right now) and I have already come across several wheat pennies and 3 silver quarters a buffalo nickel, and a silver dime!! I got 4 $25 boxes of pennies at the bank and have hand sorted probably only about $200 in pennies so far. What pennies should I be looking for other than the obvious big money catching coins? Clearly I am saving any odd looking pennies. I have noticed that the 68 and 72 are distinctly different than others. I dont save the 82 lol

This forum looks really great!

[Country]

WELCOME!!!

Save all the wheats you find. If they are common dates, just roll them up and stash them away. Better dates, put 'em in an old Whitman album and start a collection. Many of us save any Lincoln Memorial coppers we find (1959-1982). Usually, the 1982s have to be weighed or machine sorted to separate out the 1982 coppers. How many coppers you keep depends on whether or not you want to start building your own stash of coppers. Go online, google Lincoln pennies, and find the various resources that will give you an idea of the dates and varieties that you can find. Once in a while you can even find an old Indian Head too. Best of luck.

[Tantalar]

out of $50 worth (two $25 boxes) ive managed to get about 30 canadian cents, 13 wheat pennies at most... one of which was a 1912 and the other was a 1918. one 1930s and a bunch of 44 as well as 50s. I find more goodies in the hand rolled versus machine bank rolled... the local hand rolled pennies are crazy good but I cant get them in bulk I need to see if my local bank will let me buy the coins from their machine. They seem like a real friendly bunch of people. They call me "the penny man" and ive only been in a few times!

[rickygee]

If youre not saving 82's you're missing out on a lot of copper. Get a Harbor Freight electronic scale for under $15 or make one of the various popsicle stick and pencil balances.

I've got the Harbor Freight scale and It's loads of fun. You'll even end up sorting your 83's loooking for those rumored copper planchets.

[Morgantm]

If youre not saving 82's you're missing out on a lot of copper. Get a Harbor Freight electronic scale for under $15 or make one of the various popsicle stick and pencil balances.

I've got the Harbor Freight scale and It's loads of fun. You'll even end up sorting your 83's loooking for those rumored copper planchets.

Ditto, I got one from them the other day on sale for 7.99, works great!!

[bman]

Gas stations and liquor stores are the 2 best places to work for finding cool coins, people will grab a handful of coins from their dad or roommate and spend them there if they need gas, cigarettes or a drink. Bad for them - great for you!

[DirtyFingers]

A guy will lose alot of copper by throwing 82's back. After more experience hand sorting, you'll be able to sort the copper from the zinc just by a quick bounce of the coin. Copper rings like silver and has a lively bounce where as zinc makes a thud and has a dead bounce. I sort on a old wooden desk and the coppers make a distinctive ring when bounced off the wood top. I go back every now and then with my pocket scale and weigh a handful for accuracy and I'm always at 100%.

DF

[pennysifter]

I used to flick 82's in the air with my thumbnail to hear the "ring" of copper or "thud" of zinc. You can get cheap gram scales on ebay too. 2.5 grams is zinc, 3.1 is copper.

[Dave]

I used to just bag all of the 82's, then I realized I had @ $50 of them, I read here about the popsicle and pencil scale and It works great and it is fast. Out of the $50 or so, I saved @ $30 of Cu.