Found New Rolls Of Old Pennies, What To Do?

I agree with the 'search them' approach, but I suggest you do your research first to determine which know varieties exist on the 1982 Philly mint copper cents.

Our experts will be along shortly to provide some helpful links to various variety sources.

Once you have a feel for what you are looking for, then search away!

Let us know what you find.

I would search them for high grade gems, also the potential of some 1982 small date copper coins.

Update: In another box, I found paper wrapped pennies, 1982. See pics.

Question: Did they come from mint/banks fresh with either wrapper?

The plot thickens.... I tracked down the origin of these coins and got more backstory....

The original owner, back in 1982/83, started hoarding all the boxes of pennies he could get. The coins have literally been in a garage since 1983!

Turns out, I can get dozens more BOXES for 4x face, and they ALL look like my pics (from what I hear).... The person is going to list them for melt value, that's where the 4x came in....

Not sure if worth it, as the amount of time to sort and find the holy grail (82d, small date, copper)...

I have gone through about 10 rolls, and they all weigh in at 3.1g and machine marks/scuffs are typical, as in pics.

Thoughts? It's a lot to go through..... Anyone near Atlanta wanna help?

I have looked at only 10 rolls, and they are all large date, no mint mark (P).

Now that I know I should NOT open rolls, and first I (think) I should look at enders to see if there are any Denvers, I will be busy for a bit....

Some of the cent rolls from that era and 1982 are starting to get large premiums. Very large.

Mostly it's the zincolns though and coins stored in a garage can be problematical. Even the dark edges can ruin them for some buyers and some of the zinc coins might be oxidized.

Getting 4c back can be a bear since melting will be illegal at least another year or two. If the coins are in nice condition (open at least one roll of each date) you might consider buying them and storing them properly. Before you sell them open another roll and see if it has any Gems or varieties. Keep only those dates that do.

Most people should take a hard pass but the way BU roll prices are soaring you might kick yourself later. Some of the copper rolls from the late-70's are exceedingly common and typically poorly made. This works well when you have Gems and varieties but it might make it hard to find a buyer even if the price goes higher. Don't forget too that even when they're legal to melt again scrappers want to pay about 40% of true value.