CRH Basics?

If I have not welcomed you to CCF yet . What you have listed are good general rules. I recommend you focus on one denom. I search cent rolls for wheat,errors and varieties as well as any that are above average in condition and eye appeal. Good luck with your hunting.
John1

Welcome Duncan! I only keep the pre '40 nickels, I just dumped $75 worth of post 1941 nickels and two dozen+ dateless buffalos. They hold no personal value to me and I always do this to encourage new collectors. Good luck in the search!

I got 3 2009 P and 1 2009 D, 2 2009 P dimes. Those things are both hard to come by it seems.

Make sure to check your 1950 nickles because 51 and 50 appear to be harder dates to find so someone might trade you for them if you find them.

Basically the rule is, keep what you like. You bought the rolls, and the re yours to do with as you please. I like taking my spare nickles to Walmart to their self-service checkouts to make purchases with since, unlike Coinstar, there is no fee when you are spending them directly for say a loaf of bread, a soda, whatever. It just doesn't take ALL your coins, only what you need for your purchase, and returns any extra with your change. I think many other stores do that as well, so I just leave some extra leftover coins in my car for when I am running around and there is a vending machine that still takes coins, I can always get a drink.

It's really a matter of what you want to keep. Technically speaking, the only way to make a profit from CRHing is through bulk selling on ebay or searching for errors or silver. This is about as much of a for-profit hobby as playing the lottery.

Personally, I keep coins that I find interesting, or coins that are uncommon in circulation. This includes most pre-59 nickels, all wheat cents, all silver, all proofs/NIFCs, all 2009s (except the DC quarter and heavily circulated cents), and coins that are in unusually good condition. It's hard to really nail down rules, because every rule has exceptions. For example, the '58-D nickel isn't remotely rare in circulation, but the '58-P is significantly less common than the '39-P.

Personally, I don't see the harm in hoarding cents and nickels; they are cheap as heck and easy to downsize if your collection gets too large.

I finished a Harris/Whitman book for 61+ nickles, 65+ dimes, 65+ quarters, all with a single box of each. Halves my first box had a 1987 in it and I had no idea it was only from mint sets, so I felt lucky. finding silver in 3 boxes of halves has been a lost cause for now so I still have one hole in that folder and Kennedy is holding out on me. I think it is a conspiracy. Missing 2 or 3 war nickles, but got both non-silver 642 nickles. other than that it is just about the rarities I am missing, so filling books is quick.

P&D State Quarters, ATB Quarters, those nickels, dimes, pennies, missing 10 silver Roos, all but 4 SBAs and Ikes, almost all '41+ cents, most of the Kennedies, some sort of Wargams cent book. I think I have half a dozen books filled, and had to buy them all last year when I started to CRH, and only had my Whitman 20th Century coin book prior to CRH. I only get a box or two a month except for cents. Sometimes get carried away and get 6 of those for the wheats. Real easy if you aren't too picky about your coins to be able to fill up books, then jsut keep whatever you like.

When you get to that point the books are almost full, like me, you wonder if you should increase your searching, or just collect other things while you wait. I got bored with so many cents and made a roll of each 1959~1982 and only missing the S mint mark rolls and 4 others from having a roll of each of those just from boredom.

the best thing to do when coin collecting is just keep what you want and set the rest free for someone else to find something they might need in them. That is why I spend my excess halves and dollars (not Ikes, only have about 100 of them left) so people can collect them when they find them.

Here's a breakdown of what I look for:

Cents: wheats; pre-1959. "S" cents from 1968-74. I also save cents from the 60s/70s with mint luster.

Nickels: pre-1960, though I'll save any from the 60's that are AU, as well as 68/69/70S.

Dimes: pre-1965. If I get an AU 1969 or something like that, it stays.

Quarters: pre-1965 and any ATBs that I need.

Half Dollars: pre-1971 and NIFC issues.

Additionally, I'll save all Canadian and foreign coins, along with any oddities, eg if it's painted or plated.