Project CENT 2.0

obsessedwithpennies

The idea here is a census of the cents in circulation. I know that this has been done before, but this will be an ongoing project, constantly becoming more accurate.
You should search in $50 increments, recording the number of each date and mint mark. (not just wheats, memorials, 2009s, and shields, too)
Also, include the following varieties:
1858 LL and SL (I know this is a long shot, but the goal here is to have 10,000,000 or more coins searched)
1873 Closed 3 and Open 3
1886 TI and TII
1922 Plain
1936 DDO-001
1944 D/S
1955 DDO-001
1960 PD LD, SD, and D mint SD over LD
1970S LD/SD and DDO-001
1972 DD0-001
1974 PDS LD and SD
1982 PD LD, SD; Cu, Zn
1983 DDR-001
1984 DDO-001
1988 P and D RDV-006
1992 PD CAM
1994 DDR-001
1995 DDO-001
1997 double ear
1998 WAM
1999 WAM
2000 WAM
2006 Double ear
Also, include errors, foriegn coins, and "junk" (plastic pennies and stuff)

Email me with your results for each $50 increment you search. I will keep the results from everyone on my computer in a table, and will publish them here at certain check points, those being 100,000 coins, 500,000 coins, 1,000,000 coins, and every million coins after that.

If I have too many varieties listed in the census, please let me know which ones you think should be cut.

I will be posting this on several other sites too.

Start Searching!

Batman23

Someone had tried this already.

Never worked out, and this was with a member with an established following and knowledge base. You just appear to be a person popping in that is obsessed with pennies.

That said, Your list looks complicated enough to scare off some people. I would think that the years and the major varieties are all that are needed to give an idea of what is out there still in circulation.

It will be interesting to see if you can get this to happen.

Julio

. Take care. jws

obsessedwithpennies

<< <i>Someone had tried this already.

Never worked out, and this was with a member with an established following and knowledge base. You just appear to be a person popping in that is obsessed with pennies.

>>



Let me take a guess. Charles Daughtrey, usually coppercoins on forums (Lincoln Cent Resource and Coin Community, that I know of.)

quote from him on LCR
"Also, if you are really serious about doing this AFTER thinking it through completely - I might be talked into assisting by re-opening the domain for the project, sticking your name in the masthead, and finishing the code of the site for you to use in your venture."

His Project CENT is why this is Project CENT 2.0, instead of just Project CENT.

As to my obsession with pennies, don't get me started there. I have sorted $2000 face and counting over the past year. And I am not sorting just for Cu. I know what I'm doing. Just ask me any question about Lincolns you want to, and I will do my best to answer.
(nothing about pop reports, please. I stopped buying into the certification thing when I saw several coins with very weak striking in 66 and 67 PCGS and NGC holders.)

GrumpyEd

If the idea is to get a census from circulating coins you might just start with memorials.

Maybe for wheats you can try a census based on what people find going through bags bought as wheat bags.


Welcome aboard!

obsessedwithpennies

Part of the point of this is to get the percentage of circulating cents that are wheats.

astrorat

Welcome to the forum!

Good luck with your project. As somebody who is an academic researcher, including using surveys (which is essentially the instrument you are using), understand that major difficulties exist.

1. You are asking people to spend their time and resources without a clear outcome or benefit at large (e.g. benefit to the hobby, society, etc). Information given to you is not necessarily a benefit to the submitter. For me to search 5000 cents may take an evening. But to document the dates and mintmarks (and "major" varieties!) will consume much more time.

2. Will the data be reviewed and published? To whom will the information be disseminated?

3. How will you verify that the information is accurate? You are relying on people's honesty for an anonymous survey. Without validation, the results are virtually meaningless. For example, what if I claimed I was given an "old roll" from the small town bank and it contained an 1856 Flying Eagle, 1877 Indian, and a 1955 doubled-die cent? You would have to believe me because there is no way to verify or deny (and no I can't provide any images as I spend the coins just for kicks). To correct your second sentence, the information will not "...constantly become more accurate," but using the current approach will constantly become less accurate due to the inability to verify that the data submitted is accurate. The only "accuracy" you can maintain is your own information and the "accuracy" at which you record the random information sent to you.

I think your idea is actually very interesting, but had methodological errors that will likely lead to the project being dropped or worse, inaccurate data.

LanceNewmanOCC

.
hello and welcome to the forum

if you have this much time on your hands, organizational skills, desire and more I have a semi-short term project you can work with me on that has clear and concise goals that has

achievable goals and will benefit us both for decades to come still leaving you with time to work on your other project(s).

If you are interested which I hope you are send me an email to oldcollectorcoins@gmail.com
.

DorkGirl

I just have to say......I hate seaching cents. Going through a couple of hundred gives my mouth a coppery taste and my hands are filthy.

astrorat

<< <i>

I just have to say......I hate seaching cents. Going through a couple of hundred gives my mouth a coppery taste and my hands are filthy. >>

I don't think tasting the cents was one of the study's requirements.

TomB

The relatively lengthy list of varieties would chase away many potential folks, in my opinion, and this is especially true if you do not post detailed images and pick-up points for each variety. I think you are being way too optimistic, aggressive or whatever you may want to call it by including varieties for FE and IHCs. The inclusion of these seems to simply muddy the waters and might possibly make folks glaze over when they look at the list. The fact that Chuck started a similar, if not nearly identical, project several years ago and then stopped work on the project after an unknown number of folks participated most likely hurts your future endeavor. I had gone through the $50 batch of cents several times and had obtained the cents from two different states in order to support the project and when it came to nothing it made me less inclined to participate in a future study. A copy of my results are still on my computer, but at this point they are several years old and would not be reliable. Lastly, I agree about the accuracy issue for anonymous users, but this might be something you simply have to deal with, and I also agree that a continuous updating and mingling of data makes the overall results less accurate in terms of cents in circulation within a given time period.