Where Should I Start CRH?

I'd say the best luck I've had is doing nickels. Boxes are $100 and I've been keeping anything pre-1960. The last box I did I ended up keeping about $4 worth of nickels.
I've done halves but they are $500 per box. I look for silvers but more importantly, I look for "no FG" halves.
I've done dollars but they are $1000 per box. I've found 3 or 4 Sacagawea speared eagles and a few Presidential dollar varieties.
Haven't done any dimes but might in 2018.
I've done pennies, $25 per box but they are DIRTY and seems like it takes forever to get through a box.
GOOD LUCK!

Nickels were always my favorite; I seemed to find coins from the 1940s and early 50s at a much higher rate than cents, plus there is a decent (about 60-75% chance per $100 box) of finding silver or a Buffalo nickel.

Halves are fun and have the best chance of yielding silver (from my experience) but banks don't like to order them and the face value of keepers adds up quickly.

Personally, I would say pennies or nickels. They are the two lowest as far as cost per roll/box goes. Both also tend to yield multiple finds almost every time(Depending on what exactly you define as worth keeping of course).
But really, you should go with what you are interested in, it'll keep you going much longer and seem more enjoyable in my opinion.

I agree.

Totally agree. Plus, the nickel is the only coin that still feels like a coin.



to the CCF!

Good luck Webster. Here's my advice when searching cents: look for the varieties.

There are tons of varieties to learn so it will take you time to come up to 'speed', but the varieties you'll find will outweigh the older finds you'll make by several fold. Coppercoins is a good place to start as they will show you what is out there by date and mintmark. Wexler's site (doubledies.com) also has a bunch to consider. There is considerable overlap between the sites but each will have something the other doesn't have. There are numerous other sites out there that will educate you on what to look for and you'll get plenty of help here.

If all you are looking for are Wheat cents and an occassional Indian head, you'll probably be disappointed. LWC yield is low per box of cents: 10-20 seems to be what folks attest to here. IHCs: one or two a year and you would need to do considerable volume to find them (generally, multiple boxes per week - week after week). This is why I stress looking for the varieties. A single 1998 or 2000 WAM is worth more than a few months of accumulated common LWCs (6 months or more of finds). That said, you occassionally land on a dumped collection where things can really get interesting. The current bag of nickels I'm searching now is one such event. With volume, you usually get one nice event a year (I used to do a box of cents and a box of nickels every 2 weeks or so).

Nickels have been by far, the most likely to produce the occasional dump events. Often times you can find high grade nickels at face value and they tend to be more volumous when yielding older dates (current bag I'm on yielded around 30 1938/1939 PDS coins). Findinding older cents (before 1937 or so) is difficult. LWCs on the whole are difficult to find due to obsolescence and the large mintages of coins in recent years. Also, folks tend to 'pick' out LWCs even if they aren't collectors as they were'told' that these are worth saving. You speak with folks who have sizeable hoards of LWCs that know nothing about them or value; just that they are meant to be 'saved'. The LWC is in my opinion, the most hoarded coin for no other reason than it's 'old' and meant to be 'saved'. Nickels (Jefferson) are not hoarded in the same way or with the same ideas behind it.

BUT...as noted above...collect what you want when you want. I still search cents even though the likelihood of finding an old/semikey/key LWC is unlikely because I know that the real value is finding a variety (that folks in general desire) and other high grade specimens for building my roll set. The joy of CRH is that you will find the occasional treasure or oddity that makes up for the disappointments (I found a gold Ducat in a nickel roll). And we delight in the successes of others who post their weekly/monthly/occassional fun finds in the various forum threads. And sometimes we get to show off a bit. We look forward to seeing some of your fun finds going forward!

Good luck Webster!

No problem Webster. Here are a few links to check out -

http://Lincolncentresource.com/

http://coppercoins.com/

http://doubleddie.com/

http://cuds-on-coins.com/

http://www.maddieclashes.com/

http://www.traildies.com/

https://coinsite.com/us-error-coin-values/

Cents is a great place to start! I typically take 2-3 weeks to process a box as I dive deeper into the variety types than most. Afcop13 offers a good hit list for the more common variety cents that folk go after. It's important to note that when folks go deeper into the variety types, there are many varieties which appeal to a smaller number of collectors. A minor variety coin generally does not have the appeal to the average collector, so if your intention is to target those varieties just know that it's not likely you'll have a broad buying audience later.

Also, familiarize yourself with Error types. While looking for varieties, LWCs, IHCs and so forth, you will come across error coins too. These, like variety coins, are generally speaking, more valuable. In the end, you'll be able to pull the old, new high grade, variety, and error coins as you hunt a box. Another piece of advice: if you are not sure what you have, set it aside in a separate container to follow up with later. I can't tell you how many times I let a good variety/error coin slip through my fingers because I wasn't sure...until later...when I already tossed the coin back! While you are learning, it doesn't cost you much to put a cent aside to confirm or reject later. After a bit, you'll be able to snag a date/mm and know what to look for. However, there are a number of undiscovered or unattributed cents out there. To make these discoveries, you'll need to know a bit about the processes on how they are created. It's good reading for variety/error coin hunters. It'll help you master your hunting skills in the long run.

Have fun on the hunt!!