Lincoln Memorial Fans (if any there are), what are the chances of finding.......

SanctionII · June 19, 2007 10:00AM

...........any Gem (MS65 or better) 1974D cents in 7 OBW rolls of these 33 year old coins? I was given these rolls about 18 months ago and have been stting on them since. I am getting the itch to open the rolls.

I am wondering whether I should crack open the rolls and see if I can find any Gems or whether I should just leave them as is for a few more years.

What say you?

23Pairer · June 19, 2007 10:07AM

Why not open them. What are you hoping to find, ultra rare no edge lettering blank planchets in the 4,235,098,000 produced?

LincolnCentMan · June 19, 2007 10:08AM

The odds are pretty good.

-David

Manorcourtman · June 19, 2007 10:09AM

I have numerous of these rolls saved/unopened for a reason......they suck! The rolls I went through were all spotted and just downright pathetic. That doesn't mean you won't do better but I wouldn't bet on it. Just my experience. Good luck!

droopyd · June 19, 2007 10:17AM

I'd say you'll find lots of 65s. But not very many 67s.

I'm still sitting on my OBW rolls of Lincolns from 1950-64 -- actually my late uncle's, now my dad's, someday to be all mine!

My dad was actually going to take them to the bank until I talked him out of it....

SanctionII · June 19, 2007 10:17AM

I have no specific agenda regarding these rolls. Just curious as to what I might find.

I will probably open the rolls, maybe even tonight.

PocketEasyTreasures · June 19, 2007 10:20AM

I would only open these rolls if I was going to send some to PCGS. Otherwise, how would you be sure they where MS65. I have several unsearched rolls of memorials, and i will be opening them when I have the time. I have a roll of 1960-D small Dates and some of them will grade Gem or better. I just need more time!

tightbudget · June 19, 2007 10:39AM

Easy.

rabbitracks · June 19, 2007 10:54AM

The 74D rolls that I've looked through had some super nice Denver high grade coins in the rolls. In most of the rolls that I looked through also had San Francisco mint coins in the same rolls these coins were just junk quality compared to the Denver issues. Good luck if you open them, should find some very nice examples hopefully.
Mike.
Someday REAL American HERO's will be on our COINS.

cladking · June 19, 2007 12:23PM

Back in '74 they weren't too bad. I haven't looked at many since. As I remember
the big problem was marking.

I'd hang onto small dates as these don't appear in mint sets and might be tougher
than most people think.

GrumpyEd · June 19, 2007 12:37PM

If they all came from the same source and were stored the same you might just open one roll. The rest are probably similar.

segoja · June 19, 2007 12:41PM

Sounds like fun to go thru.

Bought an original roll of 1930-P Lincolns Sunday. Can't wait to go thru that puppy!

21Walker · June 19, 2007 12:45PM

My experience............Got a bunch of 73S & &74S OBW in Oregon in that year.........Nice coins............Also got 83D (Bunches) in 83 and they look like crap (at least the 1 roll I opened).

Appears when the switch went to zinc coated with copper and they left them in paper wrappers, things went to crap if you left them in the original wrappers,,,,,,,,,,,

IMHO............Rick

oldcameoproofsguy · June 19, 2007 1:40PM

Open them up and let us know if you found any superior gems.

SanctionII · June 20, 2007 1:15AM

I opened four of the rolls last night and took a peek at the coins.

All were Denver mint except for one SF coin. How did that happen?

The quality of the coins was all over the board. Many of the coins had developed ugly carbon spots. Those that did not have carbon spots ran the gamut. Some were extremely mushy in the strike of either the obverse or reverse. Some had strong crisp strikes on one side only. Some had strong, crisp strikes on both sides. Some were fiery orange in color. Some were had a darker, hazy orange color. Many have nicks and contact marks on them. Some are remarkably free of marks. Some have blazing luster and eye appeal. Some lack eye appeal.

Some would not grade 63 or 64. Some would. Many would probably grade 65. I picked out 15 coins that were superior in eye appeal. Of those, 5-6 have soft mushy strikes. The rest have strong strikes and IMHO could possibly grade 66 or maybe even a 67.

I will open the remaining rolls tonite to check out the balance of the coins.

Cladking, can you describe the small date example you mentioned and tell me how to recognize same from the non small date variety?

SkyMan · June 20, 2007 1:57AM

Sounds like fun Sanction! Good luck on tonights pickings!

cladking · June 20, 2007 7:07AM

All three 1974 obverses were redesigned mid-year presumably for the
transition to an aluminum cent. In all three cases the large date is more
readily available in rolls and is the only version which appears in mint sets.
The "4" of the date looks noticeably smaller to most people but if this is
tough to pick up then look at the separation of the lettering to the rim. It
significantly farther on the small date.

There were, and are, solid rolls of both of these types so none are tough
but the small dates are quite a bit tougher and gems for all six coins are
not necessarily easy. This might be especially true for the S mint small date.
Many of these coins were mixed in with other coins by the mint to prevent
hoarding and some success was achieved. Since they don't appear in mint
sets there is no ready supply of gems.

All three of the lg dt coins can be found as spectacular gems in the mint sets
but the S is scarce and the D is not especially common. Large percentages
of the rolls and bags set aside in 1974 have been released to circulation and
significant numbers have tarnished. These were saved in huge numbers com-
pared to most moderns but they are a tiny fraction of the numbers of the pre-
65 coins saved. When you add in the the toughness for the small date it makes
them an attractive coin to set aside and an interesting coin for a collection.

There was extensive experimentation with designs and compositions in those
days because of the escalating cost of copper. These are the only effect on cir-
culation issues.

jmski52 · June 20, 2007 7:15AM

cladking, thanks for the education. I didn't know any of that.

Lincoln Memorial Fans (if any there are), what are the chances of finding.......

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