Oldhoopster

All the more reason to write a book to document it. How many of those 150 people that heard your impromptu 3 minute explanation remember some, if any of it. If you don't document it, then its lost to history. Unless you're waiting for people to seek you out and personally ask for your story Edit to add Or give a presentation at the ANA or FUN. The worst that can happen is that you've provided a baseline of facts and data that can be used for any future debates

We'll be here when you get things sorted out. Wishing you the best of luck

You should write a book on the Longobard Trial

You could try MA shops. Lots of European dealers use that platform. It seemed like lots of these became available in the early 2000s, but I'm not sure how many were in high grades and if they got slabbed. Most of my hoard of different dates and mints.

Gently move the cent a little in the package and see if the line follows the coin. Edit to add My bad. I didn't read the previous post where you confirmed it was a microscope problem.

Nice try but you would have better luck with winning the lotto than finding one of these. All known examples are Specimen strikes, strongly indicating they were not released for circulation. Did you compare your coin to known examples. If you did you would see that the stray mark on your coin is too close to the date. Its also the wrong size and shape. If you still think you have something, you'll need to send it in for authentication as I believe your opinion will be met with the same skepticism by dealers and Canadian coin experts.

Hardware acetone works fine. Mine is definitely overkill. Just be aware of the following: * acetone is very flammable and evaporates quickly. Use in a well ventilated area * acetone well react with many types of plastic. Use glass jars with metal lids * don't dump it down the drain if you have plastic pipes * acetone can damage countertops.

You said but it is an acid, so it needs to be rinsed with clean/distilled water (unless its copper) Acetone is a solvent that won't react with metals or toning on coins. Most/all will evaporate before you even get a chance to rinse in distilled water. The only reason to rinse is if you use dirty acetone and it won't matter unless you are very, very quick. A distilled water rinse doesn't hurt but it really doesn't help anything Been using acetone for years and Freon before that, and have had no issues with not rinsing. But I usually do a double rinse and change it frequently. A little overkill for removing PVC plasticizer residue

If there is no visible signs of PVC plasticizer residue or other asst crud, I just soak for 1-2 min. Check the acetone for cleanliness by putting a couple of drops of a piece of glass. If there is a dried residue, change the acetone. If you keep the acetone clean, you really don't need to rinse If you want to be extra safe, use 2 containers of acetone. One for the initial soak and one for a rinse.

@EagleRJO Historically, redbook prices have always been on the high side. I think the examples you mention are part of the highly sought after rare coins that have been driving the market over the last 6-12 months and aren't representative of the majority of Redbook listings, IMO

Collectors can use Redbook prices to get an idea of which dates are common and which dates are better and may require additional research. Many Mercury dimes for example, are priced at bullion value in circulated grades, but a quick scan will easily tell you that the 21 and 21D are better dates. As a bonus to the new collector, it shows them where to find the mm and some basic grading info.

Are you suggesting that we shouldn't use any internet sites. Sounds like throwing out the baby with the bath water. No question that there is a lot of junk out there (" get rich from pocket change" ), but what about all the sites that members recommend to newbies. Doubleddie.com, varietyvista, numista. Lincoln cent resources, cuds on coins, AC search for ancients, The Mint's You Tube videos, e-sylem, ebay sold listings, Fortin's seated dime varieties, just to name a very small amount. I have a few dozen internet sites bookmarked and use them regularly even though some of that info can be found in my reference library. I'm not saying the web is better than the old methods you mention. I'm saying the internet is another useful tool. Saying collectors shouldn't utilize the info on the internet is irresponsible in my opinion. Sorry, but i need to go and look up some stuff in Breen's Encyclopedia of US Coins

The internet has a tremendous amount if useful information. I can search the ANA library at my leisure instead of making a phone call or digging out my 30 year old outdated catalog (remember those). There are a number of excellent web sites with search functions for ancients (They are my first stop before ever cracking open an RIC or Sear volume). And what about error sites Wexler's or errors-ref or variety vista. Why not utilize those instead of waiting for the next convention to talk to an expert. You would be remiss not to use EVERY source of information. You said "Books, not websites". I feel you should have said " Books AND Websites." Why not take advantage of today's ease of access to information. I've been searching and adding reference volumes to my library since the 70s when I was still a YN and believe me, until the late 80s, references were either hard to find, expensive, or unavailable. Now we're in a golden age of information (maybe too much info ). To say that people shouldn't use that information makes as much sense as the Luddites destroying machinery 200 years ago because they feared it. Use ALL the info available to you. Just my opinion

Whizzed coins have developed a notoriety from collectors in the 60s-80s, and IMO (and will speculate others of my era) they are very undesirable. Whizzing was done specifically to defraud collectors. Also, the surfaces were significantly changed by the wire wheel agreeing and moving metal, much more than a cleaning Just explaining my thoughts on whizzed coins. Others may offer differing opinions. Personally, I am a strong believer in buying problem free coins. A problem coin is cheap because it's a problem, and it will continue to be a problem when it's time to sell/upgrade. Wait until you have the funds to buy problem free coin and you'll be happier in the long run. (advice is based on 50+ years of collecting experience. I have knowingly bought lots of problem coins that I wish I didn't)

Get a copy of A guidebook of United States Coins. You can easily tell if you have a common coin or better date, plus It has a lot of basic coin collecting info. Retails for approx $15. Best money you'll spend on coins Get the book, go through your change, and come back with change. Regarding errors, if you are new, there is a very good chance you have damaged coins, not errors. Try this site to get an idea what to look for. www.error-ref.com

Whizzing a coin is different than cleaning. Most (all?) whizzing was done to make the coin look like a higher grade usually using a fine wire brush to make the surfaces appear more lustrous. As to value, no hard rule. IMO, I would much prefer a cleaned coin over a whizzed coin. Your mileage my vary.

I think that's the reason why most people come to these sites.

@jimbo27 One way to quickly learn a little about a lot of US and Colonial coins is to buy a copy of the Redbook. It has a short paragraph or two about most diff types. Also has mintages, weights, compositions, pics of major varieties, some basic grading info, and lots of other stuff. If you just paged through it, I'd expect you would find other interesting coins that you didn't know existed. Well worth the $15 price tag

Not a crack. Hard to tell from the pics but it looks incuse. Just based on the pics, I would have guessed a scratch. However, it's in a slab so that should have put it in a Details holder (assuming the seller would have noted that). Maybe its a minor strike through IMO, if the pics are bad and there is something on the coin that I can't identify, I'll pass on it. No need to buy someone else's problem coin and go through the hassle of returning it.

In my opinion, what's the point in engaging in a hobby if you aren't going to continue to learn and build your knowledge base. Reading books, visiting the forums, using reference volumes for attributions, talking and exchanging ideas with others, etc are all ways to build knowledge I think that people who collect, but don't want to learn and grow can easily fall into a "hoarder" mindset.

My opinion I would save until you have enough to purchase a problem free coin. A details coin will always be a details coin, will always trade at a discount, and many times be harder to sell. I think you'll enjoy a problem free coin much more over the long term

I believe its just an extremely worn die. You can see a ridge ring through IGWT as well Not going to rule out some minor die filling, but I'm going with a worn die

Plating blisters. A common defect on copper plated zinc cents

Struck through a capped die. Nice error https://www.error-ref.com/?s=Die+cap

Sorry, but it isn't an error. Some material (glue?) Is stuck to the surface. You can see bubbles on both sides. This did not occur at the mint