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Posted 12/26/2012 7:30 pm
Welcome, Meagan!!
Cents are my particular love, and while I'm still a baby-amateur (I started about a year ago), maybe I can offer you some pointers in the right direction . . .
Cents are, for the most part, easy to obtain, search, and collect, as you've discovered with your first foray into coin-roll hunting (CRH). Sounds like you got a great haul your first time out--congrats!--but don't expect this to be a "regular thing." I search via the change safe at my retail job, and I'll go through periods where I run out of "junk change" to swap out for cool things, and also periods where my "junk change" stays heavy in my pocket with nary a fun coin in sight. When you hit a dry period, don't get discouraged! Move to a different bank for awhile (this is a good idea anyway so people don't get tired of you), if you have an excuse to take a road trip make a dump somewhere else and pick up some coins outside your normal sphere, etc.
Cents within the Lincoln era are easily divided into three parts: wheats (LWC, 1909-1958), copper LMC (1959-1982), and Zincolns (1982-present). Within the last category there are two subcategories: zinc LMC (1982-2008), and what I call "new era" cents, beginning with the Life of Lincoln series in 2009 and now continuing with the shield cent. You may choose to focus on one of these areas, a couple put together (e.g, I'm doing a set from 1909-1982--all copper Lincoln cents), or go for the gold and try to collect all 103 years of Lincoln cents. This is a great set to start with; I'm easily 2/3 done with it, and the only Lincoln Cent purchase I have ever made was some folders my former boss' brother half-finished as a boy. (These account for a small fraction of the dates actually in my book; although I still have the cents I received from these folders, I've often updated with coins I pulled from circulation that are in better shape.) While you work on this set, keep an eye out for other things that may interest you; I began a set of early Jefferson nickels from circulation after being fascinated with my first War Nickel find. If you find an opportunity to expand on those new interests, take it, but don't worry about your next collection just yet. Instead, spend some time here, ask questions, read up, have fun, and put together your first set.
You likely will not finish a 'definitive' set of Lincoln cents right away--and by right away I mean "if you go for every single coin, this will take you YEARS"--but don't be discouraged! This is because of something we call "key dates" and within that series these will include: the 1909-S V.D.B. coin, the 1914-D, the 1932-S, the 1970-S "small date," and two errors: the 1922 "no D" or "weak D" and the 1955 double-die obverse ( DDO). Don't sweat it if you can't find these. Lots of us are missing them and when they come up on the forum they're always a cause for great excitement. Focus on filling out the other dates and mintmarks as you like, and worry about the keys later.
This set will help you to earn your chops--when I started on CCF I didn't know my DDO from my VAM (and technically I still have no idea what VAM stands for, but I also no longer worry about it), and a year later here I sit happily blathering on about off-centers with Cuds and closed dates and diamond patterns (all things you will also learn about if you decide to stick with the hobby). I guess my most important advice would be this: DON'T LET THE LANGUAGE SCARE YOU. You'll learn it in time, just like you would learn the technical aspects of any other hobby. Sometimes CCF has provided handy auto-links to a glossary, such as " ATB", " Morgan dollar", "CAM" (click on any of those words and you'll see what I mean), but sometimes not--and when not, there's no shame in saying " . . . guys? What's a pattern coin?" (It's a coin that was struck for the express purpose of showing Mint employees how a design would look when committed to metal, and it's not always made of the same metal as the final coin.) Someone--oftentimes several someones--who know the answer will be along shortly, and will be happy to answer. When I started here I was vaguely terrified by people casually throwing around abbreviations and technical terms like "proof" and "Krause number" and very nearly ran away again. The jargon is only hard and intimidating if you let it be, though; give it a little time and you'll be throwing 'em around too.
My final advice is this: no album. This is HIGHLY subjective advice, based purely on my own preference, and your mileage may vary. However, here is why I give it: If you don't want to worry about the errors (like the '55 DDO or the "no D"), you're going to forever have ugly blank holes in your album that are labeled for use, but never filled. Also, albums are expensive, especially for baby-collectors. I have a binder (that my dad got me for Christmas--thanks, Daddy!!) that contains "thumb-cut coin pages," which are sort of like the pages you'll see for collectible trading and baseball cards. Take a look at the picture here: https://whitman.com/Inventory/Detai...y-Kit+626KIT Those white things in the back by the Red Book are 2x2 flips, and the clear pages on the lower right hand side of the photograph are thumb-cut pages. You put your coins into 2x2s, then slide those into the thumb-cuts, and boom--you can set your own "album" up however you please, for much cheaper than, say, a Dansco album. (My total for 13 thumb-cut pages, which adds up to 260 openings to use however I please: $9.75. Whitman's price for a Whitman-brand cent album that covers 1909-1995 and has 252 openings: thirty bucks.) I think these pages are far better for a new collector--they're cheaper, they let you decide which direction you want to go instead of telling you what path you have to take, and if you want to, you can always upgrade later.
Cents are my particular love, and while I'm still a baby-amateur (I started about a year ago), maybe I can offer you some pointers in the right direction . . .
Cents are, for the most part, easy to obtain, search, and collect, as you've discovered with your first foray into coin-roll hunting (CRH). Sounds like you got a great haul your first time out--congrats!--but don't expect this to be a "regular thing." I search via the change safe at my retail job, and I'll go through periods where I run out of "junk change" to swap out for cool things, and also periods where my "junk change" stays heavy in my pocket with nary a fun coin in sight. When you hit a dry period, don't get discouraged! Move to a different bank for awhile (this is a good idea anyway so people don't get tired of you), if you have an excuse to take a road trip make a dump somewhere else and pick up some coins outside your normal sphere, etc.
Cents within the Lincoln era are easily divided into three parts: wheats (LWC, 1909-1958), copper LMC (1959-1982), and Zincolns (1982-present). Within the last category there are two subcategories: zinc LMC (1982-2008), and what I call "new era" cents, beginning with the Life of Lincoln series in 2009 and now continuing with the shield cent. You may choose to focus on one of these areas, a couple put together (e.g, I'm doing a set from 1909-1982--all copper Lincoln cents), or go for the gold and try to collect all 103 years of Lincoln cents. This is a great set to start with; I'm easily 2/3 done with it, and the only Lincoln Cent purchase I have ever made was some folders my former boss' brother half-finished as a boy. (These account for a small fraction of the dates actually in my book; although I still have the cents I received from these folders, I've often updated with coins I pulled from circulation that are in better shape.) While you work on this set, keep an eye out for other things that may interest you; I began a set of early Jefferson nickels from circulation after being fascinated with my first War Nickel find. If you find an opportunity to expand on those new interests, take it, but don't worry about your next collection just yet. Instead, spend some time here, ask questions, read up, have fun, and put together your first set.
You likely will not finish a 'definitive' set of Lincoln cents right away--and by right away I mean "if you go for every single coin, this will take you YEARS"--but don't be discouraged! This is because of something we call "key dates" and within that series these will include: the 1909-S V.D.B. coin, the 1914-D, the 1932-S, the 1970-S "small date," and two errors: the 1922 "no D" or "weak D" and the 1955 double-die obverse ( DDO). Don't sweat it if you can't find these. Lots of us are missing them and when they come up on the forum they're always a cause for great excitement. Focus on filling out the other dates and mintmarks as you like, and worry about the keys later.
This set will help you to earn your chops--when I started on CCF I didn't know my DDO from my VAM (and technically I still have no idea what VAM stands for, but I also no longer worry about it), and a year later here I sit happily blathering on about off-centers with Cuds and closed dates and diamond patterns (all things you will also learn about if you decide to stick with the hobby). I guess my most important advice would be this: DON'T LET THE LANGUAGE SCARE YOU. You'll learn it in time, just like you would learn the technical aspects of any other hobby. Sometimes CCF has provided handy auto-links to a glossary, such as " ATB", " Morgan dollar", "CAM" (click on any of those words and you'll see what I mean), but sometimes not--and when not, there's no shame in saying " . . . guys? What's a pattern coin?" (It's a coin that was struck for the express purpose of showing Mint employees how a design would look when committed to metal, and it's not always made of the same metal as the final coin.) Someone--oftentimes several someones--who know the answer will be along shortly, and will be happy to answer. When I started here I was vaguely terrified by people casually throwing around abbreviations and technical terms like "proof" and "Krause number" and very nearly ran away again. The jargon is only hard and intimidating if you let it be, though; give it a little time and you'll be throwing 'em around too.
My final advice is this: no album. This is HIGHLY subjective advice, based purely on my own preference, and your mileage may vary. However, here is why I give it: If you don't want to worry about the errors (like the '55 DDO or the "no D"), you're going to forever have ugly blank holes in your album that are labeled for use, but never filled. Also, albums are expensive, especially for baby-collectors. I have a binder (that my dad got me for Christmas--thanks, Daddy!!) that contains "thumb-cut coin pages," which are sort of like the pages you'll see for collectible trading and baseball cards. Take a look at the picture here: https://whitman.com/Inventory/Detai...y-Kit+626KIT Those white things in the back by the Red Book are 2x2 flips, and the clear pages on the lower right hand side of the photograph are thumb-cut pages. You put your coins into 2x2s, then slide those into the thumb-cuts, and boom--you can set your own "album" up however you please, for much cheaper than, say, a Dansco album. (My total for 13 thumb-cut pages, which adds up to 260 openings to use however I please: $9.75. Whitman's price for a Whitman-brand cent album that covers 1909-1995 and has 252 openings: thirty bucks.) I think these pages are far better for a new collector--they're cheaper, they let you decide which direction you want to go instead of telling you what path you have to take, and if you want to, you can always upgrade later.
