Where Do I Buy 1983 Canada Small Cents Far Beads Variety In Pl, Sp, And Pr?

i think you need to use the enlarge photo option on ebay and make up your own mind, before buying..most seller's don't distinguish that variety. I know I don't.. I would sell the 1983 small cent as just that , a 1983 proof like sealed penny..i certain;y can't tell the difference..

I agree with Silverwolf, you need to step up your game and do the legwork! I'm sure I have some near and far beads varieties but as a dealer, since its a low value coin its not worth spending the time to distinguish the difference between the two.

If you dont like a photo a buyer posts then I would suggest that you shouldnt buy the coin. Problem solved. Its not worth complaining about.

pasasap, you've inspired me! I dont have many non-silver coins on hand but I am going to go through my 1983 cents and if I have any I will let you know :)

The 1983 Small Cent on the left is the PL you say could be Far Beads, and the 1983 Small Cent on the right is a Business Strike BU that I know is Far Beads.

Without posting both varieties, Far and Near Beads, side by side in PL, it is just hard to say if your coin is Far or Near Beads. Some people probably can look at your photo and say, one way or the other, but I am not that advanced, and I am not expecting you to be that advanced either. So, what I did was take Far and Near Beads varieties as they are listed on ebay to compare with your coin. I could not find any PL 1983 pennies labeled Far or Near Beads, so I had to use whatever mint strike was labeled. In the top photos, I compared your coin with a business strike in BU Red that was labeled Far Beads. In the bottom photos, I have placed your coin side by side with a Proof that is labeled Near Beads. If someone has Far and Near Beads in PL, then please post them, so we can see them side by side for a better analysis.

All my PL's look like yours. I have ten, and all of them are the same variety. I believe your coin is Near Beads. Now, I do not have a Far Beads in PL to compare with or a photo of one, but I was told by a moderator, who surprisingly has not chimed in yet, that all Far Beads look the same rather they are in BU, PL, SP, or Proof. The same for the Near Beads variety they would all look alike. However, I have no evidence of this because nobody has ever posted Far and Near Beads side by side in all Mint Strike Finishes (BU, PL, SP, and PR). Only business strike photos have ever been posted to explain the difference between the two varieties. So, without any proof that I was mislead, I am going with what the moderator said, and he claimed to be an expert Canada Small Cent collector.

What would help everyone on this Forum who wants 1983 Far and Near Beads in BU, PL, SP, and Proof is if someone who had all eight of them would post photos with Far and Near Beads side by side for each mint strike type. It may be that Far Beads looks different in Proof or PL as compared with the BU (business strike) version, but I do not know. (Note: For the purpose of this post business strike to me means pennies taken from bank rolls and not from mint sets.)

Thank you for posting the photos and trying to help. But, what would really help is if someone just sold me 1983 Far and Near Beads varieties in PL, SP, and Proof, so I would have them in my set. I am sure it is easier for Canadians to purchase these coins at coin shows or from local dealers than it is for me to get them, since I live in the USA. I am sure someone could pick up all six coins for less than $20 there in Canada. I am at the mercy of ebay listings and online dealers. If they do not have what I need in stock, or if they refuse to try to help me, then I cannot get the coins, which is what has happened. So, that is why I am frustrated.

Seriously? Am I seeing another "photos or it does not exist" post? The business strikes were minted in Winnipeg, but the die change was approved, and used in Ottawa as well. I already told you that only one obverse die was used for the proof strikes - no far beads in proof strikes have been found (that I am aware of). Regardless of the strike (business, PL, SP), the bead spacing is the same as the coins struck in Winnipeg. They. Look. Exactly. The. Same... they don't make working punches (i.e., matrix or master dies) separately for PL and SP coins from that era.

I searched almost 10,000 1983 PL sets over a period of five years, and I found maybe a dozen or so PL of the Far Beads. I searched over 2000 specimen sets in 8 years, and found five far beads. I stopped searching three years ago and I cannot explain the scarcity... BUT if you think any coin dealer carrying Canadian stock is going to care, let alone search, NCLT non-silver coins, then you need to rethink your strategy...

Repeated posts here will accomplish nothing. Furthermore - stop asking. I am not going to post side-by-side photos of my coins, because there are certain people out there who mine this site for their own profit (book publishers who shall remain unnamed, and have stolen my images before). Lastly - NONE of my extra Far Beads in PL and SP strikes are for sale... I literally spent years hunting for them - I intend to sit on them for quite some time...