Approximately $5,000 In Change Ugh!

To the Forum.

Most dealers have stopped giving this horrendous advice since about 1999 but it used to be typical. Indeed, when sellers forced dealers to buy moderns most were just put in the cash register. This is a major reason so many clads are rare in nice condition. Only a few were set aside and the attrition on them is staggeringly high.

You should save any nice BU's before 1999 and Gems after 1999. You should also save AU's from '69, '82, and '83 in quarters. About the same applies to all denominations.

Just make it a sort of part time job. Don't try to rush looking through it all. Just take some and look through it. Buy your self a copy of a normal Red Book, not that super one. Just look through a small amount once in a while so you don't get irritated.

Here are my guidelines for going through large amounts of change:

I edge-check all my dimes, quarters and halves, this is the easiest way to snag silver. While rare they do pop up occasionally. Halves need to be checked a little more carefully as the 65-70 silver-clads can sometimes be mistaken for newer copper-nickel ones. I then back-check the pennies, pulling the wheats and 2009's out. I then check the Memorials for anything dated 82 or earlier. Nickels are date-checked for 50's and earlier although it is pretty easy to notice the older higher-relief versions.

I save these:

Dimes and Quarters 1964 and earlier (Silver content)
Halves 1970 and earlier (Silver content)
Any large sized dollars (30's and before are silver, Ikes are just cool but usually have no added value and won't fit in CoinStar's)
Nickels 1959 and earlier. While most circulated have little added value past the mid 50's eventually they will.
Pennies are a little different. I save all wheats (58 and earlier) as well as coppers and 82's (half were copper and half were zinc, I then sort them later)

I also save any 2009's as they were minted in relatively low quantities. While not worth any more than others they are less likely to be seen and maybe in the future might be worth something.

As for varieties and special cases I perform cursory checks for known varieties and errors but since that is not a specialty for me I don't waste a lot of time doing so due to the very low returns. The likelihood of finding something like a 1996-W dime or a DD cent is so low as to be almost impossible but if you have the time and patience it might be fun.

Every once in a while you might find circulated proofs, silver or otherwise. Proofs are pretty easy to spot due to the mirrored surfaces and sharp edges that often survive years in the wild. Silver proofs are usually found during edge-checks anyway.

oh wow. I just looked at her profile. I live 20 minutes drive from her location. However, she has email contact turned off. If one of the admins of this site has the ability to ping her via email, let her know I'd be willing to provide some guidance. Her father's life story closely resembles my own but in my case it was my grandfather who had hoarded coins that I inherited in the late 1970s.