Cherrypicker

[moneyhoney]

I understand what you guys mean by "cherrypicker". I am never going to be able to afford any of the coins that are posted. Neither do I think I would ever come across a tone and rare coin in any condition or place. It looks like I am stuck with the DDOs and DDRs and so far I haven't had any luck find any of those. If I ever get a chance to get to a larger city I would really buy bank rolls from a bank, hoping that it's worth the time.

[e1cnr]

There is a couple books called the Cherrypickers' Guide that show rare varieties of common stuff. Frequently coins can be found with no premium to regular issue but worth many times more.

 

A Cherrypicker is someone who looks for value where most people have already seen the item, but did not realize the value. The Cherrypicker gets the item cheaply...

 

 

 

A variety is something produced by a die that is in someway different than the typical die for that issue. Frequently the mint notices the problem and few coins get out, but sometimes hundreds or thousands of these get into circulation along with the regular issurs which could be millions of coins. A famous example is the 1955 double die obverse cent - all were found in circulation at one time by someone for 1 cent...

[moneyhoney]

oops...I was thinking that a cherrypicker was someone that looked for DDOs and the likes. I was thinking that they collectors in the forum are more concerned with collecting the brilliant rare coins that they post...beautiful coins. I didn't think they were too interested in double dies, etc.

 

Thanks for the head-up

There is a website...Wexler's cherrypicker coins.(not exactly the name) deals with DDOs and the likes. Some of the ddos are very difficult to see. I have a 10X loupe but it takes a trained eye to see them...

[Deerefan8420]

Depending on what series of US coinage you are cherry-picking through, there are sometimes other diagnostics to look for when seeking out doubled dies and other varieties. These diagnostics can range from die scratches/gouges or other marks that were left behind when the die struck the coin. For example, on the 1966 SMS(Special Mint Set) Kennedy Half Dollar, the varieties FS-101 through FS-105 all exhibit specific die markers which aid in the attribution of the FS variety. Most of these die markers can be seen in the early die states but as die wear progresses, the die markers become much more difficult to detect and makes attribution of these varieties a bit more difficult.

 

It has been my experience so far that many of the major varieties have been discovered and were subsequently submitted for authentication, attribution and then grading to a TPG. In the past several months, I have searched through hundreds of coins and was only able to find one recognizable (meaning that the TPG's will attribute the variety on the holder label) variety. That coin, a 1970-D Roosevelt Dime DDR FS-801, graded MS67 FT(Full Torch) by NGC and is currently the Top-Pop coin for the variety. And I found it in an older-style coin folder. That's another thing to look at as well. A lot of coins that reside in the older style TPG holders may have varieties that the TPG's did not recognize back when those coins were graded.

 

Once you become more familiar with what you are searching for, the easier it may become to recognize those varieties when you see them.

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

To piggyback on that...

 

Die markers for many varieties can be found in CONECA's Master Listings of Die Varieties, here: http://varietyvista.com/CONECA%20Master%20Listings.htm

 

However, note that CONECA's listing codes for varieties are going to be different than the listing codes in The Cherrypickers' Guide, i.e. the 1946-D 10C RPM listed in The Cherrypickers' Guide as FS-502 is listed by CONECA as RPM-015. The same goes for other authors like Wexler/Miller, Flynn, etc. Sometimes the listing codes will be the same, but not always.

[cpm9ball]

Banks aren't the only source for finding varieties and errors.

 

The Kennedy Half Dollar missing the reverse clad layer, shown below on my signature line, came from a $100 Mixed P&D bag I bought from the US Mint in 2004 and it cost just 68c. There is only one other known for that date/mintmark, and it sold for $555 in 2005.

 

The 2005-S Kansas Silver Proof State Quarter shown below was part of the 11-coin silver proof set I bought from the US Mint in 2005. It's averaged price (from the set) was about $3. This variety with a die dent on the butt of the bison is listed in the Cherrypickers Guide as FS-901. I submitted mine to NGC for grading and attribution and it came back PF70UCAM, the Top Pop. I sold it a couple of years ago for $1,000.

 

Chris

 

[skippy]

oops...I was thinking that a cherrypicker was someone that looked for DDOs and the likes. I was thinking that they collectors in the forum are more concerned with collecting the brilliant rare coins that they post...beautiful coins. I didn't think they were too interested in double dies, etc.

 

A cherrypicker is anybody who looks for coins where he can get something he thinks is worth substantially more than he pays for it. This could be a variety collector (e.g., doubled dies) or it could be someone who looks for other unrecognized value (e.g. cameos in mint sets).

 

Some people look for coins they think are beautiful. Some people focus on varieties. There are both kinds here. I am a strong variety collector of shield nickels. That is a series where strong magnification is not necessary to see some really fascinating (to me, at least) varieties. Feel free to visit my website (in the sig line) for some examples.

[moneyhoney]

How did you know that the mint had those silver Kennedy's coins? since you purchased them from the mint in 2005, are they available at the present for that price? I am thinking that I simply send the mint an email and ask them for a certain domination/certain mintmark and they will send it to me. How did you get those coins at $3 and 68 cents?

I sure have a lot to learn and it may take a lifetime to know everything about detection

[moneyhoney]

I wondered what the grades were different. Glad you mentioned it. However, I rather stick with one website because it gets confusing to me right now. If I can find the same errors and varieties on one website that is on the other, that would be enough for me rather than to get confused with the grades. Thanks a bunch

[moneyhoney]

Wow!! I can understand that but, right now the varieties and dies are a little hard for me to detect. It takes a very good "trained eye" and someone that has been looking at them for a long time. I asked the question a while back if most of the major coins have been accounted for...never got an answer but, I am glad you mentioned it here. Thanks

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

However, I rather stick with one website because it gets confusing to me right now

Good idea. It does get quite confusing. I would recommend sticking to the varieties in Bill Fivaz's and J.T. Stanton's Cherrypickers' Guide. There are a crazy amount of varieties for many U.S. coin series'. Fivaz and Stanton have basically already done all of the work to pick out (a.k.a. "Cherrypick") the most popular varieties. You'll soon find that many (probably most) of the varieties found on U.S. coins only command a small premium, if any at all. The varieties in The Cherrypickers' Guide hold the most interest for collectors...for the most part. The only reason that I mentioned the CONECA site was for the die markers.

 

One thing you might want to do is buy some coins with confirmed varieties and examine them to see what you're looking for. But be sure that you're buying from someone who really knows what they're talking about. There are many many many coins on eBay that say they have an RPM or DDO or other variety, but the sellers are mistaken. I would recommend picking up a few NGC, PCGS, or ANACS slabbed coins with designated varieties.

 

You can also buy coins directly from J.T. Stanton and other variety experts.

Stanton sells coins on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/usr/cherrypickerjtcoins (although it doesn't look like he has a lot of varieties listed right now)

James Wiles of CONECA also sells varieties through his website: http://varietyvista.com/Books%20and%20Coins%20for%20Sale.htm

John Wexler sells coins on USACoinBook: http://www.usacoinbook.com/store/doubledguy/ (although, note that like Stanton's sales, he also sells coins without varieties)

[cpm9ball]

How did you know that the mint had those silver Kennedy's coins?

 

The 2005 Silver Proof Sets were purchased from the Mint after their release was announced.

 

since you purchased them from the mint in 2005, are they available at the present for that price?

 

No!

 

I am thinking that I simply send the mint an email and ask them for a certain domination/certain mintmark and they will send it to me.

 

If you go to the US Mint website, you can browse through their offerings.

 

How did you get those coins at $3 and 68 cents?

 

The 11-coin proof sets were sold for $31.95 which averages out to $2.90 per coin. I used $3 to simplify things.

 

The 2001 $100 Mixed P&D Kennedy Half Dollar bags were sold for $135 which averages out to about 68c per coin.

 

I sure have a lot to learn and it may take a lifetime to know everything about detection

 

Once you get used to recognizing what a coin or denomination is supposed to look like, it becomes pretty easy to spot the irregularities. Where errors are concerned, it helps to have an understanding of the minting process.

 

Chris

[moneyhoney]

Thank you for the "way' you responded to my questions. Well, I am going to keep at it this time. I started years ago and I quit, gave it up but, I am going to try to keep going. My first intention was to get rid of the coins that I have and I still want to do that but the more I learn the more interesting it gets. I might stick around longer than I thought I would.

[moneyhoney]

Thank you, and I made a note of those websites. I always been cautious about what I see on Ebay and thanks for the additional info.

[murty]

Nice bits of info and direction here.May I suggest to moneyhoney to try to focus on one coin series to sharpen cherry picking skills