The Cent Project website is up and running..

coppercoins

For those who have considered volunteering for the largest coin sorting project in history, you might want to take a look at this site.

For those who just have trouble sorting out the difference between 1960, 1970S, 1974, or 1982 large and small date cents, you might also want to take a look at this site.

Yup...you read it right. There is such a thing as a 1974 large date and 1974 small date cent. All three mints produced both in business strike, but all the proofs are large date.

So...whether you're a volunteer or whether you're just curious, all are welcome to paruse the information therein...

The Cent Project - www.thecentproject.com

cmerlo1

Cool site- the small/large date sections are great and should prove very helpful. I'm still interested in volunteering when I can...

--Christian

AskRaq

From your site:

" Each volunteer will be given the information necessary to accurately sort $50 in face value (5,000 coins) of cents obtained from their local banks. The coins need only be in their possession long enough to complete their sorting and data gathering, then they could re-deposit the coins back into the bank."

Shouldn't all of the coins (5,000) be gathered together and held until a certain time/date??

I question the ability to get accurate data if someone gets say 1,000 coins at a time, spends/re-deposits, gets another 1,000... etc. and may end up with some of the same coins? Also, if one person goes through all 5,000 quickly, and dumps them in CoinStar/bank.... they may end up in someone else's 5,000 coins 3 or 4 months later?

RYK

I got my cents today (some say I never had any ) and look forward to contributing. I would also encourage others to participate.

RYK

claychaser

Just signed up my YN. Of course, he is hoping for a 14-D!

claychaser

The YN and I went to the bank today and got our cents. The teller said "do you REALLY want $50 worth? What are you going to do with these?". I explained that my son was doiung a "research project" (true!). She said "With THAT many?". Yep.

So we did 14 rolls before lunch, and we did hit a 53-S, decent coin at that. only wheatie so far.

Got the YN following Chuck's instructions and method. He has a basic grasp of statistics.

RYK

My son and I just started searching as well, though, admittedly, I have done the bulk of the dozen or so rolls. The initial results and patterns of findings has been very interesting to me. I am enjoying learning to spot the varieties (I've got the '82's down without checking the website), but I keep forgetting to look for the "money varieties", DDRs, wide/narrow AM, and the like. So far, four wheaties, one S-mint, and no foreign coins. I keep hoping that someone mistakenly rolled up something desirable like a Dahlonega quarter eagle.

AJ2525

Hello,

I'm 400 coins into the project from the Left Coast. Two wheaties so far. I enjoyed the 1944 S because the S is the serif style.

Being a mere 236 miles from San Francisco I already have four S mints.

I'm sitting here going through more....

onejinx

I went through my first 5,000 for the project yesterday. We found about 14 wheats and 75 Canadaian. I still have to record the data. Then next week I go to Maine and pick up 5,000 more.

Swampboy

Coordinators:
"I will be asking the assistance of a few educated specialists in the series to help coordinate this project and assist volunteers with questions regarding their experience with what they are finding in their batches. "


I won't be doing my sorting until early November and was just wondering if coordinators were named to answer questions and lighten Chuck's load.



Oh........
and bump!

RYK

I am about 15 rolls into it. So far, I have found more 1945 cents (3) than S-mint cents of any date (2). Every night, my son asks if we are going to sort pennies.

claychaser

34 rolls sorted by last digit so far by YN and Dad. Very few wheaties.

cladking

ttt

This is a very worthwhile project and needs to stay close to page one until there are enough involved.

claychaser

What's been the oldest and the most valuable finds so far?

YN found a 46-S, nice VF and no damage. 34 rolls done so far.

RYK

I found a very worn 1920 cent over the weekend. My son, 8, found a 1982 Canadian cent yesterday and was pretty excited about it. He is very proud that he can tell the difference between the 1982 copper and zinc cents. (I bet not even Longacre can do that ). It has become an evening ritual for us to do a roll of pennies after he reads to himself and before I read Harry Potter to him.

StrikeOutXXX

I opened all my rolls and did my initial sort by decades. I have the 70's sorted by date and am going through them now and adding to the spreadsheet. I had 44 Canadian cents, and only 4 wheaties, with '37 being the oldest.

I think what surprised me the most is just ball park figures as I look into the buckets, I think I have about 2% 2000's, 30% 1990's, 30% 1980's, 30% 1970's and about 8% 60's and older and the foreign ones. A lot of the 70's have full luster still - they must have been spent once, stuck in a jar, and just cashed in recently. I thought the 2000's & 1990's would dominate, but isn't looking that way.

Nothing too exciting yet. I could probably build a nearly complete date run of slightly misaligned dies, and the 3x 1974-S cents there are two mint marks alike and a completely different one I have to investigate later, but that's it. The kids bailed on me already, but hoping to finish by the weekend.

coppercoins

Hi folks,

As for 'holding' the coins until a certain date--two things; first, I didn't want to burden lower budget people by having to hold $50 for any period of time. Second, the project isn't going to last for "months" - I plan to pull the plug at the end of the year, and that's barely 9 weeks away. It might have been a good idea to mention to get the coins at one place and return them to a different place, if possible. I have seven branches of my local bank that I could use...for instance.

The oldest REPORTED find to date was a 1925S - grade unknown...but I only have three spreadsheets back already...plus I've done two of my own, and didn't find a single wheat in either group.

I am still looking for volunteers...still.

RYK

The oldest REPORTED find to date was a 1925S - grade unknown...but I only have three spreadsheets back already...plus I've done two of my own, and didn't find a single wheat in either group.

No wheaties? That's shocking. I am about one-fifth of the way through and have at least eight or ten (data sheet as at home). I have also noticed that the vast majority of my Lincolns are D-mint, probably 75% or so.

RYK

coppercoins

RYK - You, and I, as well as anyone else who lives near or west of the Mississippi River will find that most of their coins are D mint. Those living in a rough line from Detroit to the panhandle of Florida and east will find mostly P mint cents. S-mint cents will be rather scarce for all those not living in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

The basic dividing line between P and D runs raggedly and roughly through Indiana, Central Kentucky and Tennessee, then along the Mississippi/Alabama border.

Many areas with a lot of tourism will find their sort to be more equal than areas 100 miles from them where tourists don't generally frequent.

The PDS years 1968-1974 I am finding a ratio of about 20:40:1 (P, D, S).

The PD years of zinc coinage (1982-date) I am finding a rough 5:2 ratio of D to P mint.

In the early memorials (1959-1964) I am finding roughly even numbers, slightly weighted to Denver.

And I live about 225 miles southwest of your general area.

claychaser

We are at 46 rolls, and so far we found:

1934 (claimed by the YN!)
1942-S
1946
1946-S (2 coins)
1954-D

2 Canadian

RYK

We are at 27 rolls. So far, ten wheaties, including 20-D and 26, two S-mint Memorials, and one Canadian.

rec78

I have finished the preliminary sort by last digit of all 100 rolls-i have not checked for varieties yet. I have found 26 wheats with the oldest being a 1913.The second oldest was a 1938. 16 canadian and 9 newer (zinc) cents with undeterminable dates. One of the rolls had 3 wheat cents in it. Most of the coins here are philadelphia mint. Bob

Batman23

I have completed the first sort by last digit of all rolls. I have found 34 Canadian and 12 Wheat with 1923 being the oldest... too bad it has serious rim dings. My observation is that these new zinc pennys are harder to read the dates on and do not last near as long as the copper cents. And what ever they use to count or roll these coins sure tears up the surface of the coin with a circle pattern.

AJ2525

I'm at 1,000 (20 rolls). I'll have to get more tomorrow.

I've gotten one dime and two Canadian cents.

469 of them have been 2000 or later.

TomB

I went through 2,500 coins during some free time this afternoon and was surprised to find 10 Wheat cents, the oldest being a 1920. There have also been 24 Canadian cents and one Bermuda cent. The D-mint coins are running less than 10% here in New England, which should not be a surprise.

oildvr

I volunteered as soon as I heard about it! excellent way to spend my time while recuperating from two knee surgeries since May!!

Swampboy

ttt

for the saturday night crowd

RYK

Just pulled a 1919

Swampboy

ttt

with an update

cent project

claychaser

Just got through the "last digit" initial sort of 5000, thought the crew would be interested in the results:

Just 20 Wheaties out of 5000
34
39
40
42-S
46 2 coins
46-S 2 coins
52 (AU COIN WITH TOUCHES OF RED)
52-D
52-S 2 coins
54-D
55-D
56-D 2 coins
57-D
58-D 3 coins

Canadian: 9 coins
1- Panama UN Centesimo 1966, planchet is nearly identical in size to the US cent

On to the memorial date sort.....

TomB

I've finished two batches of 5,000 for the project to help with both CT and RI. My totals show 84 Canadian cents and 61 Wheat cents as well as just under 32% copper coinage.

Batman23

You guys are hitting some wheats. I searched through two batches (10,000 pennies) and only found 14 wheats. I had 130 Canadians but we think nothing of using them here.

AskRaq

I picked up a batch at my local Chase branch here in Florida.... a mix of "customer rolled" coins it looked like (and the teller was ecstatic to be able to dump them)!!


So far, halfway through the 100 rolls and it's been pretty lame (I think I got another sorter's leftovers)... not a single wheat cent!!

Oldest coin: 1959-D

Plus..... a black 2001-P dime, 5 Canadians ('63-'98), & one 2004 Bahamian.

BloodMan

My family and I finished sorting our 100 rolls. The cents were obtained at Commerce Bank in western New Jersey (Hunterdon County). We saved many of the better condition coins in 2x2’s.

Below is a summary of our results:

Number of Wheat Cents 35 (0.7%)
Number of Copper Cents 1574 (31.5%)
Number of S-Mint Cents 8 (0.2%)
Number of D-Mint Cents 509 (10.2%)
Number of Canadian Cents 16 (0.3%)

Wheat cent dates included: 1930, 1937(x2), 1940(x2), 1941(x2), 1942, 1944(x5), 1945(x2), 1945D, 1946(x3), 1948, 1951D, 1952D(x2), 1954D, 1955, 1956(x3), 1956D, 1957D(x2), 1958(x2), 1958D(x2)

Great project.

cladking

<< <i>My family and I finished sorting our 100 rolls. The cents were obtained at Commerce Bank in western New Jersey (Hunterdon County). We saved many of the better condition coins in 2x2’s.

Below is a summary of our results:

Number of Wheat Cents 35 (0.7%)
Number of Copper Cents 1574 (31.5%)
Number of S-Mint Cents 8 (0.2%)
Number of D-Mint Cents 509 (10.2%)
Number of Canadian Cents 16 (0.3%)

Wheat cent dates included: 1930, 1937(x2), 1940(x2), 1941(x2), 1942, 1944(x5), 1945(x2), 1945D, 1946(x3), 1948, 1951D, 1952D(x2), 1954D, 1955, 1956(x3), 1956D, 1957D(x2), 1958(x2), 1958D(x2)

Great project.

] >>




Thanks for the info. Do you have the breakdown in digital form yet?

BloodMan

Yes, I transmitted the results to Coppercoins who is compiling the results for all of the volunteers. It will be really interesting to see the nation-wide results once all of the volunteers have completed their sorting and counting.

I was surprised at the number of wheat cents (35 out of 5000) and the percentage of copper cents still in circulation.


The Cent Project - www.thecentproject.com

options26

Still counting but done with the wheats, I was suprised at the number of Canadian cent that are in there, I would assume the copper ones would get through but most were those steel ones.

1929
1946
1946-D
1948-D
1948-S
1951
1952-D - Bright Red, probably MS62/63
1954-D
1955 x 2
1955-D
1956-D x 2
1957-D x 2
1958-D x 2
17 from Canada
1 from Barbados

Batman23

Does anyone know what is going on with this project and the current status/results? There has been no updates on the website since the 24th of last month.

tightbudget

<< <i>Just got through the "last digit" initial sort of 5000, thought the crew would be interested in the results:

Just 20 Wheaties out of 5000
34
39
40
42-S
46 2 coins
46-S 2 coins
52 (AU COIN WITH TOUCHES OF RED)
52-D
52-S 2 coins
54-D
55-D
56-D 2 coins
57-D
58-D 3 coins

Canadian: 9 coins
1- Panama UN Centesimo 1966, planchet is nearly identical in size to the US cent

On to the memorial date sort..... >>



That's a good number of 'S' mints you have there. I'm lucky to find even one out of $50 worth of pennies. But I do agree with you, 20 wheaties is kinda low out of $50. I usually expect about 30-40.

RYK

I'm probably the slowest counter, but I would like to add that I found a 1917 in VG or so yesterday in one of my rolls. I thought it was pretty cool to find a 90 year old coin in "pocket change".

My experience sorting and recording has me (Longacre stop reading here) looking through pennies wherever I see them. One of my nurses had a tin containing maybe a couple hundred pennies on her desk, and I was tickled pink to find a 71-S in it this morning. (Longacre start reading again here)

Longacre

<< <i>I'm probably the slowest counter, but I would like to add that I found a 1917 in VG or so yesterday in one of my rolls. I thought it was pretty cool to find a 90 year old coin in "pocket change".

My experience sorting and recording has me (Longacre stop reading here) looking through pennies wherever I see them. One of my nurses had a tin containing maybe a couple hundred pennies on her desk, and I was tickled pink to find a 71-S in it this morning. (Longacre start reading again here) >>






I remember when you were the Dirty Gold Man. Now you're doing Lincolns.

BobGreene

Coppercoins.. did you ever send in the application for a government grant? They've been known to grant money for research projects a lot less worthy than yours!

09sVDB

Finished my count about a week ago. No rarities. Did find a 1910,25,27, &35.

Barbercoin

I just got mine today and began immediately.

I emailed Charles D. Daughtrey, but haven't back.

Of course, my wife thinks I have other things to do. Awwww, what does she know?

claychaser

So a question for the copper guys:

What are the "cherryick" money coins to look for in the Memorials? I know to look for the 72 and 69-S double dies, but any others? It would be cool if my YN did find a valuable one for his (and Dad's) sorting efforts....

AJ2525

I'm finally done.

Six wheatbacks, three Canadian coins and one dime also found.

Did everyone else find mostly small date 1974 cents?

Cheers

Batman23

Does anyone know the status of the Cent Project? The last news is from October 24th when he doubled the requested number of volunteers. There has been no updates or news to his site since. Things were building up with the extra publicity and then nothing...

claychaser

Just checked the website, and Chuck updated on 12/14. He is moving from MO to FL, but the project is still ongoing!

My YN's 5th Grade Teacher is allowing him to use this research project fpr extra credit in real world math concepts of percentages, graphs, data gathering and statistics. I would encourage anyone with a YN to do this project. No 72 or 69-S double dies yet, but we are starting a copper bucket.

AskRaq

Well, I wonder how the 100 million cents that were pulled from circulation up in NY might effect the final tally....?

claychaser

YN and I are done!

Results in Southern California:
23 wheats, including a 1934 and 1939
966 coppers (19%)
9 Canadian
1 Panama

Data entered on Chuck's spreadsheet, saving for when he is ready.

Anyone else want to report?

coppercoins

Sorry I haven't been very active of late - been living out of a suitcase for nearly two months now.

I go back to Missouri this weekend, spend two weeks there celebrating Christmas and New Year with the family, then on the 3rd of January, I'm heading back to Florida for good. Already have the house, license plates, etc.

It will probably be around the 15th of January before I am fully active on the computer again...but the project IS ongoing. I have NO plans to scrap it. I'm just moving a slight bit slower than I want to. Heck, when I started the project I didn't have any idea I was moving.