looking through bags of Lincolns

route66

I have over 30 different bags of mint sealed memorial Lincolns that I want to start looking thru for varieties and high end grades. Is there a best way to look thru these coins, besides just dumping them out on a table. Cotton gloves, little at a time or the whole bag at once??? Any member who has done this, please let me know the simple but effective way to do this. Thanks, Steve

cladking

I'll usually start by checking all my references to be sure I remember all the varieties
and checking a few gems to see the standard unless it's one that's real familiar to me.
Then I'll pull a big handfull from across the top of the bag and lay the bag on each side
to get samples from through out. These will all be gone over pretty carefully looking
for known varieties and gems. After that it depends on what's found. If there is nothing
of interest which will be the case nearly half the time then it just becomes a clean-up oper-
ation. The coins will not be throroughly checked individually, they'll just be glanced at to
catch errors or a stray gem (unlikely). If there are varieties they will probably be missed
but this too is unlikely.

If there are some good coins then the bag will be dumped on a table. Obverse varieties
are easier since these are usually searched to identify gems anyway. All the coins on top
lying obverse up will be gathered and checked, then those lying reverse up will be picked
up and checked. Rejects are shoveled back in the bag and keepers are pre-separated
according to variety.

If it's only a single coin that's being saved and it's identifiable from the reverse, then I'll
just flick the rejects away from the unchecked pile while pulling out this good coin. This
generally can be done very quickly but it depends on how visable the variety is.

Be sure to have a good light and various magnifier when you start. The key is really in
knowing what you're looking for before you get well into it. Get comfortable especially if
it's going to take a while. If rejects have any resale value (not typical) then just roll them
up as you go. Take breaks and consider it a project if it's going to be time consuming.
This means being able to change to another task or leisure activity so you don't put a lot
of stress on yourself.

These are most fun when there's something great in them and it's easy to find.

Good luck.

coppercoins

Don't do them all at once, handle them as little as possible - a few hundred at a time would be the most you would want to mess with.

Instead of the gloves, wash your hands very well with a good antibacterial soap before handling them. This will wash off your skin oils and dry your hands out for a couple of hours, and won't bother the coins. If you don't like that idea go with the gloves, but it is what I have been doing for years without fail.

The best guideline I can give with regard to looking through them is to question anything out of the ordinary, pull it out, tube it along with all its twins, and ask about them later. Get the bulk out of the way first, then center on the cherries.

Have fun!

route66

thanks for the information. It's exactly the kind I was looking for. I probably should get a folding card table and use it just for the coins, like working on a puzzle. Just keep coming back to it. Thanks, Steve