@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
Actually, you can't prove that.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
White agrees with Red.
White agrees with Red about disagreeing. Can I disagree with both of you about agreeing?
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
Actually, you can't prove that.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
White agrees with Red.
White agrees with Red about disagreeing. Can I disagree with both of you about agreeing?
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
Actually, you can't prove that.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
White agrees with Red.
White agrees with Red about disagreeing. Can I disagree with both of you about agreeing?
I'll agree to that.
"Me too"
-Cougar1978
That's clearly fake. Cougar never agrees with anyone because he doesn't read what anyone else posts.
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
Actually, you can't prove that.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
White agrees with Red.
White agrees with Red about disagreeing. Can I disagree with both of you about agreeing?
I'll agree to that.
"Me too"
-Cougar1978
That's clearly fake. Cougar never agrees with anyone because he doesn't read what anyone else posts.
@RedRocket said:
"99.9999999% of all anomalies on coins are not errors."
That means 00.0000001% are errors. Out of trillions of coins minted that would mean several hundred or even several thousands are errors.
I think PC Steve should continue his quest to be the one that locates one of them and continue to show them here for our approval (not likely) or disapproval (extremely likely).
lol. Sure. But 99% of all the big errors never get into mint bags in the first place. So you're down to 1% of your 0.000000001%. And, of course, not every coin has an anomaly, so you are down to 1% of the 1% of the 0.00000000001%. And then there's the fact that you are trying to find something when you don't know what it looks like... That puts your odds on par with actually spotting Bigfoot.
The single issue with this analogy is error coins are real and Big Foot is not.
Actually, you can't prove that.
We'll have to agree to disagree.
White agrees with Red.
White agrees with Red about disagreeing. Can I disagree with both of you about agreeing?
I'll agree to that.
"Me too"
-Cougar1978
That's clearly fake. Cougar never agrees with anyone because he doesn't read what anyone else posts.
Neglecting to read what others post doesn’t necessarily preclude him from agreeing (or disagreeing). Not that I recommend such behavior.😀
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
On another note, I bought a roll of quarters today from the hardware store in the original mint wrapping from 2006. I pulled one quarter and every quarter is mint state. Hopefully I found something worth sharing.
@PeacockSteve said:
On another note, I bought a roll of quarters today from the hardware store in the original mint wrapping from 2006. I pulled one quarter and every quarter is mint state. Hopefully I found something worth sharing.
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
Absolutely NOT WORTH ANYTHING other than $1!!!
People do enjoy the "IN COD WE TRUST" coins, though.
There is more that unites us than divides us.
JM's observation is comical yet also kind and informative (a rare combination).
Red chuckled and almost found himself giggling.
He avoided that embarrassment, yet just barely.
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
Absolutely NOT WORTH ANYTHING other than $1!!!
People do enjoy the "IN COD WE TRUST" coins, though.
Would those be the "Fortune in Your Pocket" folks on youtube?
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
Yes. Found and spent many. Value exactly $1.
Don't spend your time looking for "errors" or "anomalies" worth money in circulation. We've probably all been there done that. Save yourself some time and fast forward in your collecting journey past that. On the off chance you ever do find a real error of some sort, it will very likely be worth a disappointingly small amount for the amount of time an effort it took to find.
I have found clipped planchets, off center strikes, grease-filed dies, doubled dies, and more in roll hunting. I keep it all as fun finds. There's very little value to any of it. Even legit errors are usually worth about nothing.
Even if you do eventually find a $1,000 error coin, it will take you far more time and effort than the 17 days of working at federal minimum wage would yield for the same amount of money.
If you're interested in making money off of coins, become a real coin dealer. Read the books. Ignore YouTube. Talk to the many excellent folks on here and get advice. Set up at some cheap local coin shows. Learn the room. Get a feel for the industry.
If you are collecting just for your own enjoyment, collect what you enjoy. Whatever floats your boat. But be aware that if you pay face value for a coin, it is only worth face value (rule of thumb, exceptions exist but are too rare to be noteworthy. Only a few, such as silver, W quarters, etc. are worth a mention).
The hobby as a general rule is not interested in one-off errors. Only spectacular off center coins, double struck, fully shattered dies, and the like are of interest to the vast majority of collectors and dealers. If the error is not mentioned in the Red Book, it ain't worth its stuffing.
“Land of the free because of the brave”
“Saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone”
In Deo solo confidimus
ΙΧΘΥΣ
ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΝΙΚΑ)
Member since 2026
Successful BST transactions with: Ted 1, JWP, bigjpst, Vetter, nickelsciolist, ajaan, USMarine6, ad4400, grote15, coinbuf, Gothat3rs, No Headlights, PROMETHIUS88, Harlequin, Coin Finder, Coins3675, CKcollectibles2
@PeacockSteve said:
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
Yes. Found and spent many. Value exactly $1.
Don't spend your time looking for "errors" or "anomalies" worth money in circulation. We've probably all been there done that. Save yourself some time and fast forward in your collecting journey past that. On the off chance you ever do find a real error of some sort, it will very likely be worth a disappointingly small amount for the amount of time an effort it took to find.
I have found clipped planchets, off center strikes, grease-filed dies, doubled dies, and more in roll hunting. I keep it all as fun finds. There's very little value to any of it. Even legit errors are usually worth about nothing.
Even if you do eventually find a $1,000 error coin, it will take you far more time and effort than the 17 days of working at federal minimum wage would yield for the same amount of money.
If you're interested in making money off of coins, become a real coin dealer. Read the books. Ignore YouTube. Talk to the many excellent folks on here and get advice. Set up at some cheap local coin shows. Learn the room. Get a feel for the industry.
If you are collecting just for your own enjoyment, collect what you enjoy. Whatever floats your boat. But be aware that if you pay face value for a coin, it is only worth face value (rule of thumb, exceptions exist but are too rare to be noteworthy. Only a few, such as silver, W quarters, etc. are worth a mention).
The hobby as a general rule is not interested in one-off errors. Only spectacular off center coins, double struck, fully shattered dies, and the like are of interest to the vast majority of collectors and dealers. If the error is not mentioned in the Red Book, it ain't worth its stuffing.
Actually, I've found that by searching a lot of coins one can appreciate how scarce some of those Red Book listed varieties really are. One starts asking the question, after looking through several thousand pennies looking for, for example, a 1970S small date (High 7) and not finding a single one: Is the $50 price for one of these too low? I know, spending $50 for a shiny bright penny no matter what it's date is considered ridiculous by 99.99% of the populace but to the penny collector looking for one of these and actually finding one for it's humble face value after searching thousands of pennies, it makes his or her day, makes life worth living just a little bit more. The hunt is what it's about imo. Peacock Steve keep looking for interesting coins, keep asking questions. Nobody knows it all.
Having said this, back to weighing all 1983 pennies I find I go. Zinc 1983 penny is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams, a bronze would weigh 3.1 grams. Find a 1983 bronze penny and you are holding in your hands a five figure coin, not a bad find, not a bad find at all, the kind of find that the 99.99% who think you are ridiculous for spending $50 for a penny will pay attention to.
Oh, and check those 1983 pennies for a DblDie reverse while you're at it. That's a coin worth a few hundred $ according to the Red Book.
@mr1931S said:
Actually, I've found that by searching a lot of coins one can appreciate how scarce some of those Red Book listed varieties really are. One starts asking the question, after looking through several thousand pennies looking for, for example, a 1970S small date (High 7) and not finding a single one: Is the $50 price for one of these too low? I know, spending $50 for a shiny bright penny no matter what it's date is considered ridiculous by 99.99% of the populace but to the penny collector looking for one of these and actually finding one for it's humble face value after searching thousands of pennies, it makes his or her day, makes life worth living just a little bit more. The hunt is what it's about imo. Peacock Steve keep looking for interesting coins, keep asking questions. Nobody knows it all.
Having said this, back to weighing all 1983 pennies I find I go. Zinc 1983 penny is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams, a bronze would weigh 3.1 grams. Find a 1983 bronze penny and you are holding in your hands a five figure coin, not a bad find, not a bad find at all, the kind of find that the 99.99% who think you are ridiculous for spending $50 for a penny will pay attention to.
Oh, and check those 1983 pennies for a DblDie reverse while you're at it. That's a coin worth a few hundred $ according to the Red Book.
@mr1931S said:
Actually, I've found that by searching a lot of coins one can appreciate how scarce some of those Red Book listed varieties really are. One starts asking the question, after looking through several thousand pennies looking for, for example, a 1970S small date (High 7) and not finding a single one: Is the $50 price for one of these too low? I know, spending $50 for a shiny bright penny no matter what it's date is considered ridiculous by 99.99% of the populace but to the penny collector looking for one of these and actually finding one for it's humble face value after searching thousands of pennies, it makes his or her day, makes life worth living just a little bit more. The hunt is what it's about imo. Peacock Steve keep looking for interesting coins, keep asking questions. Nobody knows it all.
Having said this, back to weighing all 1983 pennies I find I go. Zinc 1983 penny is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams, a bronze would weigh 3.1 grams. Find a 1983 bronze penny and you are holding in your hands a five figure coin, not a bad find, not a bad find at all, the kind of find that the 99.99% who think you are ridiculous for spending $50 for a penny will pay attention to.
Oh, and check those 1983 pennies for a DblDie reverse while you're at it. That's a coin worth a few hundred $ according to the Red Book.
Back in the early '60's, when I was a beginning penny collector, a special coin to look for in rolls from the bank was the 1909-S V.D.B. What were my chances of actually finding one?
A local pharmacist found a 1909-S V.D.B. a few years earlier (around 1959-1960) in a bank bag of 5000 cents. I know this to be true because he showed his prize find to me and my best friend who was a penny collector too. Lovely lustrous piece, close to uncirculated.
Information to get you all started in your computations: The wheat penny had a total mintage of some 26 billion pieces. The 1909-S V.D.B. had an original mintage of 484 thousand pieces.
484,000 out of 26 billion is 1 in 200,000 (rounding). That is 5000x more common than a bronze 1983. You claim to understand Einstein's integrals, is THAT computing at all? In other words, you would find 5000 SVDB's for every 1 1983 bronze.
You have underestimated by a lot the frequency of 1909-S V.D.B. in the population of ALL wheat cents excluding proofs.
(26x10ꝰ)/(484x10³) = 53,719. In other words, if ALL wheat cents ever made (not counting proofs) were available to search through in 1959-1960, one could expect to find one 1909-S V.D.B. in each 53,719 wheat cents searched. 53,719 pennies would be the number of pennies in 10+ (10.743) bags of 5000 coins.
The pharmacist did good. His 1909-S V.D.B. likely found it's way into the bank bag he searched after spending five decades in someone's piggy bank. Lots of luck there with that find.
One million to ten million to one against the collector finding a 1909-S V.D.B. penny in circulation in 1962 sounds about right considering that most of the pieces that made it into circulation had already been found by penny board enthusiasts by 1935-1937.
@mr1931S said: 484,000 out of 26 billion is 1 in 200,000 (rounding). That is 5000x more common than a bronze 1983. You claim to understand Einstein's integrals, is THAT computing at all? In other words, you would find 5000 SVDB's for every 1 1983 bronze.
You have underestimated by a lot the frequency of 1909-S V.D.B. in the population of ALL wheat cents excluding proofs.
(26x10ꝰ)/(484x10³) = 53,719. In other words, if ALL wheat cents ever made (not counting proofs) were available to search through in 1959-1960, one could expect to find one 1909-S V.D.B. in each 53,719 wheat cents searched. 53,719 pennies would be the number of pennies in 10+ (10.743) bags of 5000 coins.
The pharmacist did good. His 1909-S V.D.B. likely found it's way into the bank bag he searched after spending five decades in someone's piggy bank. Lots of luck there with that find.
One million to ten million to one against the collector finding a 1909-S V.D.B. penny in circulation in 1962 sounds about right considering that most of the pieces that made it into circulation had already been found by penny board enthusiasts by 1935-1937.
Many of us here would also love to read a through breakdown of the 1931-S cent, only if you feel qualified to do so.
@mr1931S said: 484,000 out of 26 billion is 1 in 200,000 (rounding). That is 5000x more common than a bronze 1983. You claim to understand Einstein's integrals, is THAT computing at all? In other words, you would find 5000 SVDB's for every 1 1983 bronze.
You have underestimated by a lot the frequency of 1909-S V.D.B. in the population of ALL wheat cents excluding proofs.
(26x10ꝰ)/(484x10³) = 53,719. In other words, if ALL wheat cents ever made (not counting proofs) were available to search through in 1959-1960, one could expect to find one 1909-S V.D.B. in each 53,719 wheat cents searched. 53,719 pennies would be the number of pennies in 10+ (10.743) bags of 5000 coins.
The pharmacist did good. His 1909-S V.D.B. likely found it's way into the bank bag he searched after spending five decades in someone's piggy bank. Lots of luck there with that find.
One million to ten million to one against the collector finding a 1909-S V.D.B. penny in circulation in 1962 sounds about right considering that most of the pieces that made it into circulation had already been found by penny board enthusiasts by 1935-1937.
Many of us here would also love to read a through breakdown of the 1931-S cent, only if you feel qualified to do so.
I had found this extremely worn Lincoln cent (One couldn't make out any of the digits of the date much less V.D.B. initials on the back.That's how worn my penny was) that I took to the pharmacist one day. I asked him if he thought my piece might be a 1909-S V.D.B.
The pharmacist chuckled a bit telling me that he didn't think my penny was a 1909-S V.D.B. I was disappointed to hear this but my inquiry did win me and my collecting buddy a visit to his house to actually see for ourselves the 1909-S V.D.B. that was rumored he had found.
The pharmacist is gone now. If I were him, I think I might have "Found 1909-S V.D.B. penny" etched on my tombstone....
...On second thought maybe that's not a good idea. There's people out there that would dig me up thinking I was buried with my S V.D.B...
The '31-S in one of my albums has a light fingerprint on the obverse. The fingerprint does give the piece a little character. I imagine a kid's grubby fingers tightly clutching what is now my '31-S at the candy store long ago. I go back and forth between leave it be or remove.
Anyone here know what I can do to in an attempt to remove the fingerprint on my '31-S? It's in VF condition.
@mr1931S said:
I had found this extremely worn Lincoln cent (One couldn't make out any of the digits of the date much less V.D.B. initials on the back.That's how worn my penny was) that I took to the pharmacist one day. I asked him if he thought my piece might be a 1909-S V.D.B.
The pharmacist chuckled a bit telling me that he didn't think my penny was a 1909-S V.D.B. I was disappointed to hear this but my inquiry did win me and my collecting buddy a visit to his house to actually see for ourselves the 1909-S V.D.B. that was rumored he had found.
The pharmacist is gone now. If I were him, I think I might have "Found 1909-S V.D.B. penny" etched on my tombstone....
...On second thought maybe that's not a good idea. There's people out there that would dig me up thinking I was buried with my S V.D.B...
Narrator: The pharmacist was Bert Harshe who would go on to write the definitive guide to authentication of 1909-s VDB cents. Little did the 8 year old boy know the impact he would ultimately have on the numismatic world.
Comments
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
White agrees with Red.
I'll agree to that.
"Me too"
-Cougar1978
Even his own posts.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Agreed. And funny.
Neglecting to read what others post doesn’t necessarily preclude him from agreeing (or disagreeing). Not that I recommend such behavior.😀
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Here is an example of @cougar1978 in his "Me Too" movement:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1121399/cacg-addiction#latest
Thank You
Has anyone ever seen or found a One Dollar Abraham Lincoln coin where it says "IN GOD WE RUST" I found one last night. The "T" in "TRUST" is 90-95% not there.
(Edited after photo posted.)
It’s in rough shape!
(Edited after photo posted.)
No, I posted a picture
First piece of advice was to learn what to look for.
Since you've ignored and blown past that advice, here is the second piece of advice.
Learn how to use your microscope's picture transfer feature. It's easy. Taking a picture of a screen is an extremely poor and lazy workaround.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Most likely grease, as suggested. Worth $1.
I'm working on that; I'm not set up all the way, Like you professionals. I'm still a newby at this; Like Bambi.
I was reliably informed that you have incredible problem solving abilities.
I do, the problem is actually applying myself from having ADHD really bad and refusing to take medication for it.
On another note, I bought a roll of quarters today from the hardware store in the original mint wrapping from 2006. I pulled one quarter and every quarter is mint state. Hopefully I found something worth sharing.
NOPE, Worth 25C each SPEND THEM!!
Micah Langford - https://www.oldglorycoinsandcurrency.com/
Absolutely NOT WORTH ANYTHING other than $1!!!
Micah Langford - https://www.oldglorycoinsandcurrency.com/
There is more that unites us than divides us.
JM's observation is comical yet also kind and informative (a rare combination).
Red chuckled and almost found himself giggling.
He avoided that embarrassment, yet just barely.
Would those be the "Fortune in Your Pocket" folks on youtube?
Yes. Found and spent many. Value exactly $1.
Don't spend your time looking for "errors" or "anomalies" worth money in circulation. We've probably all been there done that. Save yourself some time and fast forward in your collecting journey past that. On the off chance you ever do find a real error of some sort, it will very likely be worth a disappointingly small amount for the amount of time an effort it took to find.
I have found clipped planchets, off center strikes, grease-filed dies, doubled dies, and more in roll hunting. I keep it all as fun finds. There's very little value to any of it. Even legit errors are usually worth about nothing.
Even if you do eventually find a $1,000 error coin, it will take you far more time and effort than the 17 days of working at federal minimum wage would yield for the same amount of money.
If you're interested in making money off of coins, become a real coin dealer. Read the books. Ignore YouTube. Talk to the many excellent folks on here and get advice. Set up at some cheap local coin shows. Learn the room. Get a feel for the industry.
If you are collecting just for your own enjoyment, collect what you enjoy. Whatever floats your boat. But be aware that if you pay face value for a coin, it is only worth face value (rule of thumb, exceptions exist but are too rare to be noteworthy. Only a few, such as silver, W quarters, etc. are worth a mention).
The hobby as a general rule is not interested in one-off errors. Only spectacular off center coins, double struck, fully shattered dies, and the like are of interest to the vast majority of collectors and dealers. If the error is not mentioned in the Red Book, it ain't worth its stuffing.
“Land of the free because of the brave”
“Saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone”
In Deo solo confidimus
ΙΧΘΥΣ
ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΝΙΚΑ)
Member since 2026
Successful BST transactions with: Ted 1, JWP, bigjpst, Vetter, nickelsciolist, ajaan, USMarine6, ad4400, grote15, coinbuf, Gothat3rs, No Headlights, PROMETHIUS88, Harlequin, Coin Finder, Coins3675, CKcollectibles2
Well said
Micah Langford - https://www.oldglorycoinsandcurrency.com/
Actually, I've found that by searching a lot of coins one can appreciate how scarce some of those Red Book listed varieties really are. One starts asking the question, after looking through several thousand pennies looking for, for example, a 1970S small date (High 7) and not finding a single one: Is the $50 price for one of these too low? I know, spending $50 for a shiny bright penny no matter what it's date is considered ridiculous by 99.99% of the populace but to the penny collector looking for one of these and actually finding one for it's humble face value after searching thousands of pennies, it makes his or her day, makes life worth living just a little bit more. The hunt is what it's about imo. Peacock Steve keep looking for interesting coins, keep asking questions. Nobody knows it all.
Having said this, back to weighing all 1983 pennies I find I go. Zinc 1983 penny is supposed to weigh 2.5 grams, a bronze would weigh 3.1 grams. Find a 1983 bronze penny and you are holding in your hands a five figure coin, not a bad find, not a bad find at all, the kind of find that the 99.99% who think you are ridiculous for spending $50 for a penny will pay attention to.
Oh, and check those 1983 pennies for a DblDie reverse while you're at it. That's a coin worth a few hundred $ according to the Red Book.
This show need it’s own podcast!
I can make a guess.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Back in the early '60's, when I was a beginning penny collector, a special coin to look for in rolls from the bank was the 1909-S V.D.B. What were my chances of actually finding one?
A local pharmacist found a 1909-S V.D.B. a few years earlier (around 1959-1960) in a bank bag of 5000 cents. I know this to be true because he showed his prize find to me and my best friend who was a penny collector too. Lovely lustrous piece, close to uncirculated.
Information to get you all started in your computations: The wheat penny had a total mintage of some 26 billion pieces. The 1909-S V.D.B. had an original mintage of 484 thousand pieces.
Are you all ready to start computing?
GO!
484,000 out of 26 billion is 1 in 200,000 (rounding). That is 5000x more common than a bronze 1983. You claim to understand Einstein's integrals, is THAT computing at all? In other words, you would find 5000 SVDB's for every 1 1983 bronze.
You have underestimated by a lot the frequency of 1909-S V.D.B. in the population of ALL wheat cents excluding proofs.
(26x10ꝰ)/(484x10³) = 53,719. In other words, if ALL wheat cents ever made (not counting proofs) were available to search through in 1959-1960, one could expect to find one 1909-S V.D.B. in each 53,719 wheat cents searched. 53,719 pennies would be the number of pennies in 10+ (10.743) bags of 5000 coins.
The pharmacist did good. His 1909-S V.D.B. likely found it's way into the bank bag he searched after spending five decades in someone's piggy bank. Lots of luck there with that find.
One million to ten million to one against the collector finding a 1909-S V.D.B. penny in circulation in 1962 sounds about right considering that most of the pieces that made it into circulation had already been found by penny board enthusiasts by 1935-1937.
Many of us here would also love to read a through breakdown of the 1931-S cent, only if you feel qualified to do so.
Tee-hee.
I had found this extremely worn Lincoln cent (One couldn't make out any of the digits of the date much less V.D.B. initials on the back.That's how worn my penny was) that I took to the pharmacist one day. I asked him if he thought my piece might be a 1909-S V.D.B.
The pharmacist chuckled a bit telling me that he didn't think my penny was a 1909-S V.D.B. I was disappointed to hear this but my inquiry did win me and my collecting buddy a visit to his house to actually see for ourselves the 1909-S V.D.B. that was rumored he had found.
The pharmacist is gone now. If I were him, I think I might have "Found 1909-S V.D.B. penny" etched on my tombstone....
...On second thought maybe that's not a good idea.
There's people out there that would dig me up thinking I was buried with my S V.D.B...
The '31-S in one of my albums has a light fingerprint on the obverse. The fingerprint does give the piece a little character. I imagine a kid's grubby fingers tightly clutching what is now my '31-S at the candy store long ago. I go back and forth between leave it be or remove.
Anyone here know what I can do to in an attempt to remove the fingerprint on my '31-S? It's in VF condition.
If someone finds a needle in a haystack, it doesn't mean others can find a needle in it.
And with an industrial, large sized magnet that chore would be a bit easier.
Narrator: The pharmacist was Bert Harshe who would go on to write the definitive guide to authentication of 1909-s VDB cents. Little did the 8 year old boy know the impact he would ultimately have on the numismatic world.