What constitutes a "cull" coin?

logger7

I was taken aback by a grader's characterization of a certain impaired coin as a "cull" and therefore not worth much. What would lead you to call a coin a "cull"? Does it even apply to better date coins?

Smudge

Melt value only.

PerryHall

@Smudge said:
Melt value only.

What if a cull (holed and seriously damaged) Brasher Doubloon were discovered? Would it only be worth melt?

Smudge

@PerryHall said:

@Smudge said:
Melt value only.

What if a cull (holed and seriously damaged) Brasher Doubloon were discovered? Would it only be worth melt?

Wouldn’t call that a cull. Edit rare coin damaged. I see cull as like junk silver.

BillDugan1959

Calling Justice Potter Stewart!!! Calling Justice Potter Stewart!!!

Yes, a better date can be a cull if it is a cull. You often see really low-end Morgans, better dates and mintmarks, that practically nobody wants.

The cull Brasher Doubloon would get sold, of course. The buyer might be somebody who already owned a decent one, who would destroy the cull to help insure the value of his or her piece.

PerryHall

@Smudge said:

@PerryHall said:

@Smudge said:
Melt value only.

What if a cull (holed and seriously damaged) Brasher Doubloon were discovered? Would it only be worth melt?

Wouldn’t call that a cull.

We need to first define what a cull is. I always thought a cull was any coin that was seriously damaged to the point that it would be worth less than a Poor-1 coin.

Namvet69

I used to use the word cull to mean a reject. But that's just me. Peace Roy

Insider2

This is the kind of question that pulls hair. Folks who have been collecting for a while know a cull when they see it. I always considered it to be a coin that was not worth collecting because it was TOO SOMETHING - Usually damage including excessive wear.
That's covered by this definition in Dr.Doty's Dictionary of Numismatics.: "A worthless or inferior numismatic specimen." Look at it as something being picked out or removed (culled out) from a group. With coins it is something bad.

CoinJunkie

Well, one of the definitions of the term cull is:

reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter

which would lead me to the conclusion that a cull coin is one that's been designated for melting (or possibly, sale as junk metal).

ilmcoins

A coin just worth its precious metal content and with zero numismatic value. Such as a cull Morgan. I have never heard of a non-precious metal coin referred to as a cull... such as a cull Indian Head Cent.

Insider2

@ilmcoins said:
A coin just worth its precious metal content and with zero numismatic value. Such as a cull Morgan. I have never heard of a non-precious metal coin referred to as a cull... such as a cull Indian Head Cent.

Where have you been? Any type of coin can be a "cull?"

Kliao

To me a cull coin is anything that is severely damaged like a hole, or a low ball coin that grades 3 or lower.

BillDugan1959

I have a back room with a pretty fair amount of low end coin stuff piled up in it. Of the Indian Head Cents back there, there are at least two rolls of "culls". Some of those are in the early 1870s. The room has a bunch of low denomination base metal culls. Culls culls culls. One of the banes of Numismatics.

Commencents

I see bags of Morgans from APMEX, lol

scotty1419

Searching for Morgans, I'm amazed at how many slightly better dates/mints examples that are out there in HORRIBLE condition - damage/bad cleanings etc. Apparently, they're worth more than melt, but a strong drive up in silver might do wonders for clearing out some of this horrible inventory that people are stuck with and has no business in any collection...

Cull=a coin you should just put out of its misery...

ShadyDave

@scotty1419 said:
Apparently, they're worth more than melt, but a strong drive up in silver might do wonders for clearing out some of this horrible inventory that people are stuck with and has no business in any collection...

Cull=a coin you should just put out of its misery...

I agree!

ricko

If it were not for culls, some collectors would not have a collection. Cheers, RickO

mustangmanbob

Ironically, 127 Lincoln Cents, Wheaties, earned that title, and were rewarded with a Viking Funeral yesterday. I took some scrap copper to the recycler, and 127 bent, damaged, gob smacked Lincolns went along, on the way to being reincarnated. To ensure they do not escape, they are dumped in a copper radiator, and the top smashed down.

1952-D was the most common date.

There were also some foreigns that joined them in the copper group, and a lot more in the brass group.

Kliao

@mustangmanbob said:
Ironically, 127 Lincoln Cents, Wheaties, earned that title, and were rewarded with a Viking Funeral yesterday. I took some scrap copper to the recycler, and 127 bent, damaged, gob smacked Lincolns went along, on the way to being reincarnated. To ensure they do not escape, they are dumped in a copper radiator, and the top smashed down.

1952-D was the most common date.

There were also some foreigns that joined them in the copper group, and a lot more in the brass group.

I thought it was illegal to melt down copper pennies for their copper content