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Syracuse Hoard Update: The culls.
Mercfan
Posts: 701 ✭✭
Hi, All!
Here's an installment on the Syracuse Hoard, 257,000+ U.S. wheat cents accumulated by a now-deceased General Electric employee in Liverpool, NY, whose son and daughter-in-law auctioned it on E-Bay in February. Now that I'm most of the way through an inventory of what was in the Hoard, I'll report on my findings one category of coin at a time.
The Hoard mainly consisted of about 2,500 rolls of wheats that were dated, and an equal number that were undated. There were some partially completed Whitman folders (Buffalo and Jefferson nickels as well as Lincolns); "about 200-300 loose coins" (all Lincolns); "about 1,700" Lincolns in 2x2s (about 150 of which were Memorials, and another 300 - 400 of which were wheats that had been cleaned); and there was a box of thousands of rolled Memorials (mostly BU) that the sellers threw into the deal as I was loading the car.
I quickly sold most of the B.U. rolls of Memorials and most of the dated rolls of the wheats. I've been sorting the undated rolls of wheats for four weeks, and I'm now through them. It was a VERY quick sort, tossing coins into containers for these twelve categories of coins: obvious keepers; sub-1920s; 1920 - 1929; 1930 - 1939; 1940 - 1949; 1950 - 1958; Canadians; Memorials (yup, there were some of these mixed in); odd-ball coins (planchet errors, Indian Head Cents, non-Canadian foreigns); S mintmarks from the 40s and 50s; fully red coins from any dates;and culls. I had to be VERY disciplined and toss away thousands of coins that I would have loved to hang onto and take a much closer look at. It was a pedal-to-the-metal sorting ultra-marathon, but it was fun.
Today I'll start with the culls, which broke down into two types.
There were A LOT (40 - 100 rolls) of full rolls of wheats that I'm guessing have had some exposure to salt water. For all I know, they may have come to the Hoarder from beachcombers with metal detectors--or he may have gathered these himself over the course of 40 years of Florida vacations. I don't like the grey-greenish look of them, and I don't know whther there's any way of improving it. At any rate, these constituted my biggest disappointment relating to the Hoard. I haven't bothered to count them or look at any dates, and they sit in my basement awaiting reports of a miracle fix for copper coins in this condition.
Then there were the individual culls that I pulled--one at a time--from the 2,400ish undated rolls. These were interesting, though I had no time to look carefully at any of them (and I never even glanced at their dates if they had corroded or damaged reverses or rims). I did notice that they ranged from 1909 to 1958-D, and there were plenty of teens, twenties, thirties, S mint marks, steelies among them.
These were a source of mild frustration, since it wasn't unusal to find coins in EF to AU condition (sometimes with older dates of S mintmarks) accompanied by B-B dents, corroded spots, cuts, holes, etc. What a waste! On the other hand, as these miscellaneous culls started to pile up in a box (and then another box), I was struck by their appearance. It's an interesting mix of dates and mint marks, an interesting mix of colors and conditions, and an interesting mix of maladies that have befallen these coins. They look so cool en masse that I was tempted to display them in antique jars. Instead, I decided to make them my first-ever listing on E-Bay (a seven-day listing starting this evening at 8:00 Pacific). It's 15.96 pounds, which I figure is at least 2,300 of them. I suspect they've got to be worth more than face value, but I'll know in a week.
I took the time to pulled the culls because I wanted to be able to sell the other half of the Hoard in good conscience; I couldn't both put the "junk" back into the rolls and sleep well at night. Better, I figure, to advertise the culls as culls, and know that there's almost no junk left in the undated lot.
I have these observations to share regarding the individual culls:
--B-B guns in the hands of boys during the 40s, 50s, and 60s had to have been one of the most costly plagues ever to hit Lincoln cent collecting;
--It's amazing how many coins have been run over by cars and later found and returned to circulation;
--There must be acidic liquids everywhere (Coca-Cola? orange juice? lemonade?) that cents come into contact with in everyday life, and a very small amount of these liquids is apparently sufficient to turn lovely cents into fuzzy, baby-blue cents;
--Budding sheet-metal workers often get theri start as kids with expendable wheat ears in their pockets;
--It takes A LOT of wear to completely obliterate the date of a Lincoln cent;
--We all need to tell our grandchildren that there's no need for them to perform the experiments: hacksaws, 3/4-inch drills, and tin-snips all work on pennies; and
--There's nothing in the numismatic world uglier than a rusty 1943 cent.
Much more to report in the coming weeks, but now it's time to grab the bag of pre-teens for re-sale and start counting.
Here's an installment on the Syracuse Hoard, 257,000+ U.S. wheat cents accumulated by a now-deceased General Electric employee in Liverpool, NY, whose son and daughter-in-law auctioned it on E-Bay in February. Now that I'm most of the way through an inventory of what was in the Hoard, I'll report on my findings one category of coin at a time.
The Hoard mainly consisted of about 2,500 rolls of wheats that were dated, and an equal number that were undated. There were some partially completed Whitman folders (Buffalo and Jefferson nickels as well as Lincolns); "about 200-300 loose coins" (all Lincolns); "about 1,700" Lincolns in 2x2s (about 150 of which were Memorials, and another 300 - 400 of which were wheats that had been cleaned); and there was a box of thousands of rolled Memorials (mostly BU) that the sellers threw into the deal as I was loading the car.
I quickly sold most of the B.U. rolls of Memorials and most of the dated rolls of the wheats. I've been sorting the undated rolls of wheats for four weeks, and I'm now through them. It was a VERY quick sort, tossing coins into containers for these twelve categories of coins: obvious keepers; sub-1920s; 1920 - 1929; 1930 - 1939; 1940 - 1949; 1950 - 1958; Canadians; Memorials (yup, there were some of these mixed in); odd-ball coins (planchet errors, Indian Head Cents, non-Canadian foreigns); S mintmarks from the 40s and 50s; fully red coins from any dates;and culls. I had to be VERY disciplined and toss away thousands of coins that I would have loved to hang onto and take a much closer look at. It was a pedal-to-the-metal sorting ultra-marathon, but it was fun.
Today I'll start with the culls, which broke down into two types.
There were A LOT (40 - 100 rolls) of full rolls of wheats that I'm guessing have had some exposure to salt water. For all I know, they may have come to the Hoarder from beachcombers with metal detectors--or he may have gathered these himself over the course of 40 years of Florida vacations. I don't like the grey-greenish look of them, and I don't know whther there's any way of improving it. At any rate, these constituted my biggest disappointment relating to the Hoard. I haven't bothered to count them or look at any dates, and they sit in my basement awaiting reports of a miracle fix for copper coins in this condition.
Then there were the individual culls that I pulled--one at a time--from the 2,400ish undated rolls. These were interesting, though I had no time to look carefully at any of them (and I never even glanced at their dates if they had corroded or damaged reverses or rims). I did notice that they ranged from 1909 to 1958-D, and there were plenty of teens, twenties, thirties, S mint marks, steelies among them.
These were a source of mild frustration, since it wasn't unusal to find coins in EF to AU condition (sometimes with older dates of S mintmarks) accompanied by B-B dents, corroded spots, cuts, holes, etc. What a waste! On the other hand, as these miscellaneous culls started to pile up in a box (and then another box), I was struck by their appearance. It's an interesting mix of dates and mint marks, an interesting mix of colors and conditions, and an interesting mix of maladies that have befallen these coins. They look so cool en masse that I was tempted to display them in antique jars. Instead, I decided to make them my first-ever listing on E-Bay (a seven-day listing starting this evening at 8:00 Pacific). It's 15.96 pounds, which I figure is at least 2,300 of them. I suspect they've got to be worth more than face value, but I'll know in a week.
I took the time to pulled the culls because I wanted to be able to sell the other half of the Hoard in good conscience; I couldn't both put the "junk" back into the rolls and sleep well at night. Better, I figure, to advertise the culls as culls, and know that there's almost no junk left in the undated lot.
I have these observations to share regarding the individual culls:
--B-B guns in the hands of boys during the 40s, 50s, and 60s had to have been one of the most costly plagues ever to hit Lincoln cent collecting;
--It's amazing how many coins have been run over by cars and later found and returned to circulation;
--There must be acidic liquids everywhere (Coca-Cola? orange juice? lemonade?) that cents come into contact with in everyday life, and a very small amount of these liquids is apparently sufficient to turn lovely cents into fuzzy, baby-blue cents;
--Budding sheet-metal workers often get theri start as kids with expendable wheat ears in their pockets;
--It takes A LOT of wear to completely obliterate the date of a Lincoln cent;
--We all need to tell our grandchildren that there's no need for them to perform the experiments: hacksaws, 3/4-inch drills, and tin-snips all work on pennies; and
--There's nothing in the numismatic world uglier than a rusty 1943 cent.
Much more to report in the coming weeks, but now it's time to grab the bag of pre-teens for re-sale and start counting.
"Coin collecting problem"? What "coin collecting problem"?
0
Comments
<< <i>There's nothing in the numismatic world uglier than a rusty 1943 cent. >>
A mint condition SBA Dollar.
Want to comment further on your 1917 Matte Proof Lincoln cent from the "hoard" and what you plan to do about it?
Steve
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
<< <i>link to auction? >>
The original auction, or my listing of the culls (which doesn't start until tonght)?
I'm now referring to it as my "matte-like" 1917. I took it to a couple of local dealers, and both were pretty quick to conclude that it isn't a matte proof. Yes, it has matte-like fields; yes, the rims are wider and sharper than most circulation strikes; and yes, the detail in nice. However, (according to one dealer whose opinion I have a great deal of respect for), the corners of the rims aren't quite sharp enough and the detail on the beard and hair isn't quite sharp enough to lead him to judge it to be a proof strike. By the way, this dealer does believe that the mint struck some 1917 matte proof Lincolns, so he's not just looking for features of the coin to support his belief that none were ever struck.
I'll have the opportunity sometime soon to show it to cohodk, whom I take to be THE local expert on matte proof Lincolns. Also, it's the first coin that I'll have photographed by whomever I find to take some good shots of some of my favorite finds in the Hoard. Eventually I'll get its image onto this forum.
I love the coin one way or the other. If were a genuine 1917 proof, I'd have had to sell it. Now I can keep it and enjoy it.
<< <i>
<< <i>There's nothing in the numismatic world uglier than a rusty 1943 cent. >>
A mint condition SBA Dollar. >>
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
Positive BST: WhiteThunder (x2), Ajaan, onefasttalon, mirabela, Wizard1, cucamongacoin, mccardguy1
Negative BST: NONE!
That is a lot of work. It sounds like you are very efficient. Please don't get mad and me when I report that I did indeed enjoy my BB gun greatly when I was young.
<< <i>Thanks for the update!
That is a lot of work. It sounds like you are very efficient. Please don't get mad and me when I report that I did indeed enjoy my BB gun greatly when I was young.
I also enjoyed my B-B gun as a kid, Carl. But I was shooting just about everything EXCEPT wheat ears--which I spent time looking for in my parents' and siblings' change whenever I wasn't shooting my B-B gun! Oddly enough, a Lincoln cent never occurred to me to be an attractive target or experiment. If I had thought of cents as targets, I would have shot-up a bunch of 1964s, I'm sure.
Last night I started counting the 1930 - 1939 cents that I sorted out of the mix (and simultaneously tried to get a sense of how many mint-marks are in that mix as well; plus, I found another 60 coins that I thought defective enough to transfer from the 30s bag into my culls auction). I'm not quite through them, but I think the total will surpass 6,000 cents from that decade. Not a huge percentage, IMHO, but quite a few nice coins from the 30s.
I was really in a zone for about five hours, but pretty bleary-eyed by 1:00 a.m.