Now That I Have Some Coins, What Do I Look For?

Major penny varieties are listed in Spink's annual reference, which now comes in two volumes. I know there are more specialized books, but I don't know them offhand. Do you just have modern circulated decimal issues, or older ones (e.g., pre-decimal, pre-QE2)?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, what is the most common error? One that I could spot easily.

Edit: I also got a 10% off coupon. I just couldn't let the sale go without me.

If we're talking US cents, and you're looking for varieties, you'll need a reference to know what to look for. Most accessible is Mega Red first edition, which covers cents.

Assuming you have modern small cents, you can pick up a used Cherry Picker's Guide for varieties.

I kind of agree with Brandmaster above, that modern small cents are not going to be easy to study for varieties. My favourite is large cents; however, LCs aren't cheap, and neither are the references. That said, c'mon, all of us Americans started with small cents

The issue with modern coinage is that the minting process is very different than a couple hundred years ago. Varieties are generally minute and very difficult to attribute. You can always try completing a date/mint set, starting with what you can find in your present holdings, and moving back in time via coin shops & online sites.

I think I mentioned in another post that I collect stamps as well. While looking at stamps I wish I had a scope to search for types, grills and other identifiers. So I figured I will go with the scope and see if I can handle it. After all I can use it for my stamps.

I bought $100 in rolled nickels online, I hope it will fill up my folders.

Maybe this is a lame question, but isn't it cheaper to just get nickel rolls at the bank or credit union?

If you ever want a break from looking through a bunch of stuff that all looks the same, consider purchasing bulk foreign coins on Ebay. These are often available by the pound. I did this a number of times just to learn about what else was out there in the world. I actually found some interesting stuff, including an XF 1944 Palestine 20 mils and an AU 1942 Russia 10 kopek.

Visiting coin shops can yield good finds as well. I was at one with my father when someone came in with a filebox full of world coins in 2x2s. The guy accepted the dealer's offer of $25 for the whole thing, since the dealer only scanned the top and didn't see much of interest. We immediately offered the dealer $50, which he accepted, and took it home. There turned out to be a number of silver pieces (over 3 oz.), including a beautiful AU 1893 Mexico 8 reals.

I've found a lot more cool stuff looking at foreign coins than US coins. The best I got from a roll was a F 1909 Lincoln cent and I think either one silver dime or quarter. (I never bought rolls of halves, though, since I've never been a big bullion guy.)