The Daunting Task Ahead Of Me.

Here's what I would do (...and as I recall, I actually did!)

Make two piles and separate each pile by year or decade. Make a pile on the left of "choice" coins, or the nicer ones of the group, and on the right, the not-so-choice coins.

You'll have a lot of RBs from the '50s and even '40s, and you'll have some damaged coins with verdigris. Even for special varieties, you'll want to look at the nicest coins.

But here's the deal - if you only look at the choice coins, you'll totally forget to look at the poorer coins. So after you have them by decade and choice/not choice, look at each decade again to sort them by year. You'll have a better idea of choice for the era and lesser coins since you'll have looked at them once. But go through and sort them by year, it'll be a lot easier to look at them for varieties.

It's a FUN project, but tiring. Go for the marathon approach though it's tempting to sprint. Come up with a reasonable schedule to stick to it. Perhaps, go backwards, too, since the older coins are the more exciting ones. That might help keep your motivation up.

GOOD LUCK! Hope you find some good stuff!

I would separate them "one" time. Figure out your strategy before you get started. Make as many piles as you need. I would separate them by potential error type. In other words, make your loupe work easier. If you're looking for RPM's, put all your potential RPM's together. With the remaining coins, I'd create a pile for well circulated coins and a pile for potential value/upgrade coins. The goal should be to minimize the number of times you have to sort the coins.