Mohawk

I had a nice little sickbed pickup from the Muldenhutten Mint today. 1950 is my late mom's birth year. My maternal lineage is where my German descent comes from and my mom's parents came from East Germany, so this little pfennig is special in lots of ways. These are the seller's pics:

My Deutsche is quite rusty and limited, my friend, but, let me try........Ich überlebe.

That's a very good process, Neo. And similar to mine. I have ancient coin guides, an edition of the Krause World Coin guide, a Krause German coin guide and a couple Canadian guides around here somewhere. And thanks for the condolences as well. It sucks, but getting reacquainted with some old numismatic friends from East Germany and West Germany has certainly been enjoyable and has made the time pass wonderfully. Coins can be some of the best medicine.

Indeed. Very well said. It's always good to read the book before buying the coin. I've been in bed with a nasty cold today (not COVID though, thank the gods!), and I've been using the time to spend some time with my German coin guide since I want to get active in German coins again. It's actually been quite enjoyable, scratchy throat and runny nose aside.

Thanks for the kind wishes, Jack!!! And those are both very nice coins. I actually don't have anything '22...1822 or 1922! I may have to change that with something nice from Canada or the Weimar Republic.

Very nice, Mike!! I like it

Yes indeed!!! It sounds like the long arm of the law is highly dedicated in Alaska as well!!

Also some amazing dedication to be commended.

Now that's dedication!!! Wow!! I have to commend your mail delivery lady.

Thanks, Hog!! I can't wait for it to arrive!

Definitely. Fortunately, most of the sets from 1974 forward are very affordable but the sheer number of them basically makes it an expensive project. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to get all of them, or just special years, or one per year or what yet. I like them a lot, but it could definitely become a crazy project!!

I think with what Coinbuf said, I can vote now. Neo, I'd go for the half cent. 1936 Proof Mercs come up far more often. Don't miss the half cent opportunity.

Very good point on the copper, Coinbuf. It's definitely tougher to find than a proof 1936 Merc.

Should I add a dash of sugar, though?

I wish I could do better for you, Neo. I do, but I do not collect U.S. coins and I haven't in a very long time. Both of those choices are so far outside of anything I'd actually purchase that I responded in the only way that I could. But I'm guessing from your avatar that the half cent has the best chance of winning

I do have the answer to your question, Quintus. There are technically four but five different Mint Marks: Berlin, Mint Mark A, Munich, Mint Mark D, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe merged in 1998, so they're actually a single mint now, but they mint coins with both Mint Marks, which are F for Stuttgart and G for Karlsruhe, and Hamburg, Mint Mark J. The fun (or infuriating) thing about collecting West and United German proof sets is that all four mints produce a proof set every year and the merged Stuttgart-Karlsruhe Mint issues two, one for each Mint Mark. So, to have a full set, you need four or five sets a year, depending on the year.

This exactly. I would also ask yourself this: Which series is more important to me? What goal would I most like to achieve? I would imagine your answer will be found there.

Here's the other side:

These are the seller's pics, but I just picked up this gorgeous 1974-J (Hamburg Mint) West German proof set. 1974 was the final year for the silver 5 Mark coin:

Welp, it looks like Researchcoins has discovered Craigslist. That's just wonderful

Me too!! I'm in!!!

That's not a bad plan, MN. I did that myself a couple years ago and now I'm actually looking to expand again. But if I hadn't thinned out first, things would have gotten overwhelming and unruly very quickly!! I've found that collecting can be a cycle of contraction and expansion at times, given changing goals, differing life circumstances and things of that nature.

I'm always there for you, my friend

Man, I think getting up at 3 or 4am for anything aside from a visit to the bathroom followed by a rapid return to my bed would just kill me dead!!! I'm genetically wired for nights. I get it from my dad and his mom....both total night owls. That 12:30-9:30 schedule was a huge selling point for me with this job. That and working from home. But vacations can do that......they can get your whole internal clock messed up.

Based on this YouTube video I found by typing "electricity method of cleaning coins" into Google, I think it's electrolysis. And, to the OP and anyone else interested, here's the video I found (which may be the very first time a useful coin related YouTube video has ever been posted here):