Cent Roll Searching Styles?

RPMs and doubled dies are not 'errors' - they are 'die varieties'.

I sort all coins by date into containers removing damaged and corroded coins as I go along. I look through every one of them under a stereo microscope. I can go through 10-15 rolls an hour and don't miss anything visible.

coinsearcher83, your method closely matches mine, except I do mine at a table, TV/movie in the background. I have a handy magnifying visor (which the ladies LOVE - so sexy) that I use to check for errors/varieties. Easy to look around the visor when needed and keeps hands free.

I separate and keep all copper, corroded or not (unless I'm worried I'll get tetanus or something just from looking at it). I utilize the Zing test so I deal w/ the '82s as they come. Wheaties get their own container. Zincolns, I check for better specimens than what's currently in my folder and swap if a score.

Separate anything interesting (foreign, interesting PMD, etc.) Everything else goes back into the hopper for recycle.

I'm sure there are better methods, but this seems to work for me. I need to start going through my copper and populating my album with the best examples of each year/MM.

I have my box of cents, 3 containers; 1 for wheats and foreigns and other immediate keepers, 1 for coppers, and one for 82s to be checked later. I also have a dump box for the zincs, checking cam/wam dates as I go since I dont get many out here in california. Once I'm done with the box, I go through the coppers, pulling 60s, 69s, 70s, and 72s to check for corresponding varieties among the respective mintmarks. Once I go through those, I sort the 82s by weight, individually. Coppers go back into the plastic bank rolls, boxed for sale or storage. I tally up my total keepers, including coppers, dump the zincs into a bank deposit bag and fill in what I owe (amount kept back), usually around $5.00, to get the bag back to $25 or $50 for deposit.

I have to have strong light so I don't miss anything. I work on my huge oak table with a desk lamp. The coins slide easily on this table so I can work fast. I don't like having to pickup coins, that takes too long. IMO, speed is critial and I go for quantity. The chances of finding a major error or variety increase with numbers searched.

I pour out the roll, pick out the coppers (quickly) and toss them into my copper bucket. If any of the coppers have known big varieties, I sent those into the inspection pile. Next, I check the dates on each coin while I pick out the garbage zincolns that don't have any major varieties known and toss them into the junk box. As I find coins known for big varieties or nice BU's, I put those into the inspection pile.

After all the trash is removed, I grab an 8x magnifier and closely inspect the remaining few coins for my personal, mental varieties list and BU quality. If needed, I'll use a 12x loupe for closer inspection. I only keep very nice BU cents anymore and only 1993 and older.

I generally can do a whole roll in 5 minutes, less if the inspection pile is smaller, longer if it is bigger. I usually do 10-12 rolls per hour....I'm cooked after an hour.

wow, I can search for like 5 hours straight. I have stayed up all night searching a few times, but only when I have a whole lot to do. and I do a roll a minute on average, and still manage to check for the major varieties. I have a tube for each date to check for varieties, and when it fills, I check through it.

At some point, I need to look for other stuff than just wheaties and earlier Canadians. I guess I just don't have the time and/or patience..

yeah, I am 13, but I will be 14 tomorrow. In celebration I am going to go and try to get aroud 20 to 25 boxes of pennies