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Oldhoopster

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Posts posted by Oldhoopster

    is there any tips on what i should be looking for when looking through my change anything?

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    Agree with the last line of @l.cutler's post.  The more you learn about coins and the minting process, the easier it will to find things and you'll waste less time on damaged coins.

    That being said, finding valuable coins in change is rare.  Just like the scratch off tickets, there are lots of losers, a few very minor layoffs and very, very few winners.  I'm not being rude, but if you only are in this to make money, you'll probably do better collecting cans along the side of the road.  If it was easy to make a fortune searching pocket change, most of us would be sitting on a beach in Caribbean by now

    Assuming you have a little experience, here are some sites to look at

    Www.error-ref.com

    Www.varietyvista.com

    Www.Doubleddie.com

     

    Here is a site that explains how coins are made.  

    https://www.usmint.gov/news/inside-the-mint/how-coins-are-made-coin-production-terminology

     

    1967 half dollar

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    Possible but not very likely.  

    A 40% silver 1967 half is made from 80% silver 20% copper outer layers clad to a 21.5% silver 78.5% copper core.  Sometimes, the core can tone to a similar color as the outer layers and appear to be a solid alloy.  Weighing it on an accurate scale should tell you.  A 90% planchet should weigh 12.50 grams +/- 0.259 gms, while a 40% planchet should be 11.50 +/- 0.40 grams.

     

     

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    1943 copper penny

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Ray, USMC said:

    I would like to say for the record that this is not a Penny as stated, a common mistake is believing this to be a penny which it is not. It is in truth a CENT that being said it still is NOT a 1943 copper CENT.  In my limited knowledge the US  has never, coined for circulation, a PENNY. Could we please start calling them what they really are. ? A relics opinion. ^^

     

    2 hours ago, Greenstang said:

    Thanks Ray,USMC

    Finally someone agrees with me. A “penny” is the UK version of the North American cent. I once brought this up on another Forum and got shot down because there are some coin wrappers that say 50 pennies. It is not as bad here in Canada as they are mostly called correctly but there are some that incorrectly refer to them as pennies. I find that it is mostly newbies that make that reference and I try to correct them whenever I can.

    I’m sure that there will be other opinions on this but I am old school and like to call a cent a cent.

     

    Somebody needs to tell the mint :devil:

    https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/penny

    FWIW, I agree that the correct term is CENT and as numismatists, we should use the correct terminology.  A doctor doesn't say "We need to shove this thing up your butt" when you go in for a colonoscopy. :insane:

    1930 Capped Bust Half Dollar - Variant?

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    22 hours ago, RWB said:

    On a Fictitious Note: A "later die state" is one West of the Mississippi River; these are California and Nevada, and almost Oregon.

    "Early die states" are East of the Mississippi; these are Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and Georgia, and almost New York.

    ;)

    Are you trying to get the entertainment gig at the ANA convention dinner?  :roflmao:

     

     

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    43 copper on 44 planchet multi strike transition error war time sent uncommon .comments

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted · Edited by Oldhoopster

    13 hours ago, Quintus Arrius said:

    Meanness, age, dishonesty, bad faith?   At the outset, with the exception of age, I believe most members will agree that the descriptors used by the OP as applied to numismatics, is refreshingly different from the terms ordinarily used by U.S. collectors.  While I agree with member Coinbuf's comments, I should like to emphasize the search for truth is never-ending.  The OP has raised an interesting point which deserves amplification.

    As most of us know, with DNA, we can determine with some specificity what part of the world our ancestry came from. We can generally state whether a human skeleton is that of male or female, race, age - even how well-nourished. Just as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) can determine the country of origin of a drug (and growing region) it can also determine purity and diluent used.  Metals present their own properties.  Gold from the Canada's Yukon differs from that of California; silver from the Comstock lode differs from that of Peru. (With the discovery of the shipwreck S.S. Central America, we were able to recover not only coinage but "Gold Rush" gold in its raw, unrefined form which, under analysis, reveals it's own unique signature.)  While I can understand the "much ado about nothing" attitude of members regarding the sophisticated (and likely costly) spectral analysis of a mere penny, the problem with metals is complicated by constant cycling and recycling. Gold and silver ores are extracted, refined, melted, alloyed, re-melted, re-issued, minted, melted again into bars and re-minted or re-purposed for other uses such as jewelry and industry.  I would imagine copper presents its own problems.  For that reason I feel determining age with some degree of specificity, particularly as it relates to coinage and date of mintage, is beyond present technological capability.

    [My sincere apologies to MAULEMALL, members who dislike long commentary -- and the moderator tasked with monitoring my every keystroke]

    I’m guessing the poster you’re referencing is a non-native speaker and is using a translation program (I would be terrified to post on a foreign language site in something other than English).  It may be best to respond with simple sentences that can be understood or translated easily.  Long, roundabout, difficult to follow, response will probably get lost in translation and be of no value, IMO

     

    I'll try to translate @Quintus Arrius post so @AlexCaffr might be able to understand.

    It is very difficult to determine the date of a coin using analytical testing.  

     

     

    I have a Kennedy Half Dollar with no mintmark in good MS condition, what would be the value of this coin in its present state?

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    @Bruce Catzbased on your recent posts, you seem to have a solid interest in the hobby.  I'd like to suggest you buy a copy of A Guide Book of United States Coins. Its published yearly by Whitman and is referred to as the Redbook.  While the pricing guide can be a little inaccurate, you can easily which dates are common and which are better.  The best part is that it's filled with lots of information.  Mintages, weights, compositions, mint mark locations, a little history, and even a very basic grading guide.  I would be willing to bet that nearly every experienced collector on this site had one sometime early in their collecting career.  It will be the best $10-15 you'll spend on the hobby.  It's an easy way to pick up a lot of knowkedge

    ? Wood looking penny

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    I believe these are roller marks, not an improperly mixed alloy.  These come from the strip rolling process.  Dirty or oily rollers can leave residue on the alloy strip, which will tone over time as regularly spaced, parallel lines.  

    The woody cents are due to compositional variations in the original ingot.  The inhomogeneities In the melt take on random shapes as the alloy cools.  These regions get elongated during the rolling process but the likelihood of them having consistent thicknesses and spacing is very unlikely

    I've seen a few examples of evenly spaced roller marks on 1980 and 1981 cents posted on the numismatic forums over the years.

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    Need Help Identifying a Possible 1982 Cent Error?

    in Newbie Coin Collecting Questions

    Posted

    Ask the question another way - how could this occur during the minting process.  It can't be a planchet error because the tons of striking pressure wouldn't leave a rough surface.  How could a die be damaged to such an extent that the surfaces leave that appearance on a struck coin?

    Maybe it's acid, maybe it's environmental, maybe it's something else.  In the end, it doesn't really matter what caused the damage, the coin didn't leave the mint in that condition.