Methods used for penny sorting

[Rubbadubba]

I'm a small time sorter. Curious about the pros and cons of whatever various sorting methods have been discovered/developed by others. I've tried penny-to-penny digital scale weighing; group (5 @ a time) weighing and even designed and constructed my own teeter-totter counterbalance gizmo (but alas poor repeatibility). I've arrived (in my own little unrushed simple world) at the conclusion that for me... visual inspection can't be beat. My reasons: 1) low cost; low investment (but yes low turnover AARGH!), 2) ease of accessing lower source quantities 3) not dealing with massive amounts of zinc to dump and becoming an ever returning irritation to friendly bank tellers 4) I get to literally examine everything I handle (99.9% accuracy), 5) I save from extinction (and get to keep) "wheaties", fairly scarce lower minted or error lincolns and even an occasional indian head (mini, exciting treasures to find), 6) Last but not least....personallly, for me hand sorting is fun, intoxicating and rather relaxingly therapeutic!

Please, no one take offense! I don't knock the Rysdale for its speed and no doubt high turnover toward our common goal to ultimately profit from the intrinsic vs. face value differential but it just seems that much of the enjoyment is lost by essentially turning a neat hobby into somewhat of a JOB, despite its potential profitability. Comments?
What about you others? What have you discovered or delighted in about this hobby? I'd love to have you share... Please let me know what my analysis may have overlooked and/or what I am missing out on!
Thanks, rubbadubba, NH

[Rosco]

I'm Older so I use a Incandescent bulb Magnifying lamp at home an clamped on the end of the computer table. Saved clean paper Barbeque boats to dump rolls into . We have a good con-fey office chair for the computer this works good for me.
FWITW I roll as I go on the Copper an store in cent boxes, $ 25.00 is enough for me to move to my Stash Area

[Rodebaugh]

[68Camaro]

They've got some dang smart dogs up there in central WV!

[Rubbadubba]

Gawd! Why can't I find a dawg like that? LOL? Thanks for the laff!

[drummer55]

well you could go with the 45,000 dollar coinscan sc4000 or you could spend the best 500 dollars of your sorting life and buy a ryedale.

hand sorting for me just doesnt make sense...it takes forever, i get eyestrain and I have to be totally involved. For the Ryedale I fill the double hopper and can do other things while keeping an ear out for any jams and a few minutes later refill the hopper.... 19000 coins an hour....

[ed_vantage17]

Agree with drummer. Plus my Ryedale has "double rejected" two 1909 VDB for me this year. If a post WWII wheat slips through, I'm ok with it, but it is surprisingly good at finding the 1942 and older wheats due to their tin content.

[tinhorn]

Lotsa good reasons for you to keep on doin' what you're doin'. Me, I needed to make some exta money, so ramping up my little operation was a necessity. I enjoy the cold calls, and the challenge of wearing down a resistant head teller with my charm. I enjoy getting back into the business fray--finding my niche in the market and building a small business by providing a superior product and superior service.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

I find it an enjoyable hobby that pays for itself. I am a long....long....long time handsorter. I broke down last year and got a deal on a Ryedale. It wasn't fun anymore for me.
I enjoy looking for the common and the rare errors and varieties. I have had my share of discoveries and have sold a few. These would not have been found with the Ryedale. I do miss the ease and speed of the Ryedale and the sound of the coppers hitting the bottom of an empty 5 gallon bucket!
I guess it just depends on what you want to do. I find it very relaxing with a hint of excitement when certain dates get between my fingers! And the rush of cracking open a roll and seeing those wheat ears....or the seldom indian head!
Anymore I just clear off the kitchen table.....set up an extra lamp for more light....and start sorting. I set up many piles for going over later looking for lots of stuff.
Eventually, I'll just have a pile of copper....a bag of zinc's for the dump bank.....a pile of 1982's to look over for a nice error after weighing them on a scale....a pile of wheats(anymore it's a SMALL pile).....and a pile of canadian coppers. Anything else gets pulled aside.
There are lots of errors and varieties out there so try picking up a good resource book. You'll be amazed at how many $10 to $50 cents you have just thrown in the copper pile or took to your dump bank.
My best zinc cent that almost made it bank to the dump bank was a 1999 Wide A M in near BU condition. I got $175 for it. A day earlier and it would have made it to the bank. Out of the blue I started to take a better look at the errors and varieties out there. It is very time consuming and you will need a good resource book and a good jeweler's loupe to see and confirm the error or variety. A good digital camera with a decent macro feature to capture your finds in order to confirm your find from others and/or eventually to sell the coin if you wanted to.

[inflationhawk]

Reason number 6 was the best and justifies your method more than all the others combined.

[Rubbadubba]

From originator (rubbadubba)....
Wow! Some great replies... encouraging, informative and graciously friendly. That's just how a forum ought to be. Thank you all... but especially to TheJonasCollegeFund.... sounds like you and I "dance to the beat of the same drummer". You worded your thoughts and sentiments wonderfully. Now, I gotta go find one of those "error" books you recommended *grins*. Can you post title(s) and author(s) for me? More power to you Ryedale people but I personally prefer to "pause and smell the roses (i.e. those more-or-less scarce little visual finds)" even if I don't end up living in a rich neighborhood. I nevertheless wish everyone the best in "sorting" and thanks to all again for sharing your methods and thoughts!

[Rodebaugh]

From originator (rubbadubba)....
Wow! Some great replies... encouraging, informative and graciously friendly. That's just how a forum ought to be. Thank you all... but especially to TheJonasCollegeFund.... sounds like you and I "dance to the beat of the same drummer". You worded your thoughts and sentiments wonderfully. Now, I gotta go find one of those "error" books you recommended *grins*. Can you post title(s) and author(s) for me? More power to you Ryedale people but I personally prefer to "pause and smell the roses (i.e. those more-or-less scarce little visual finds)" even if I don't end up living in a rich neighborhood. I nevertheless wish everyone the best in "sorting" and thanks to all again for sharing your methods and thoughts!

Here is a good free site that will get you started. http://www.lincolncentresource.com/Errors/Lincoln_Cent_Errors.html

As for a book this is a good one: http://www.amazon.com/Cherrypickers-Guide-Bill-Fivas/dp/0794822851/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324913452&sr=1-1-fkmr1

[Diggin4copper]

I was a hand sorter for a while.. finding stamped cents and other cool items was OK, but any coin of value I have found by hand, I will find with the Ryedale. I sort out the zincs, give them a quick look for older wheats (I find one in the zinc pile every 100 dollars or so).. I double run the coppers, then hand sort them for wheats and canadians. I find about 25 wheats per 50 dollar bag, and close to that many canadians. I could never sort the $200 or so a week that I do with the Ryedale. I am happy seeing 100 wheats a week and hoping for a good one someday, as opposed to only sorting 1 50 dollar bag a week...and my stash of copper is getting bigger faster than it used to... thats my method, and Im OK with it

[baggerman]

I am a hand sorter and I have now got the wife involved in the addiction. Together we hand sort about $150-$200 a week and we weigh everything. I tried a bright light large magnifying lens and found that since I am only interested in copper, canadians and wheats it is faster to just run everything over a small pocket gram scale. Good ones got to the right zincs to the left and then I look through the good pile for wheats I may have missed.

[silverhedgehog]

Your goal and local copper percentage defines your method.
My goal for 2011 was $1.00 per day of coppers and for 2012 it will be $1.50 per day. I can manage this hand sorting.
Hand sorting for me is fun and a break to listen to the radio for a while. It is pretty funny what a good find does to make your day.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

Your goal and local copper percentage defines your method.
My goal for 2011 was $1.00 per day of coppers and for 2012 it will be $1.50 per day. I can manage this hand sorting.
Hand sorting for me is fun and a break to listen to the radio for a while. It is pretty funny what a good find does to make your day.

Yep....listening to music...some days on my Direct TV...it's either the Hair Bands or the Heavy Metal channel. Then again, sometimes the girlfriend will sit and search with me. She enjoys the conversations we have but I'll be nice and switch to the Modern Country channel! It's very relaxing with her. I smile at times when she says...."hey let's go search some pennies!". That never happened when I was married! I used to get yelled at, by her, that people were watching when I bent down to pick up a penny on the ground. I found me a REAL keeper!

[TwoAndAHalfCents]

When it comes to hand sorting there is one more thing that I do. I pull the Shield and Lincoln Anniversary cents as I see those reverse designs when I'm opening the rolls. No need to date check those cents since they are all going straight to the bank. These new designs are only running about 10% to 12% in rolls now so it's not a huge time savings. Give it a few more years and we're going to start seeing more of these than the Memorial cents.

[Numis Pam]

I'm Older so I use a Incandescent bulb Magnifying lamp at home an clamped on the end of the computer table. Saved clean paper Barbeque boats to dump rolls into . We have a good con-fey office chair for the computer this works good for me.
FWITW I roll as I go on the Copper an store in cent boxes, $ 25.00 is enough for me to move to my Stash Area

Rosco, I like the idea of using the bulb magnifing lamp! Thanks for the

[Romalae]

I handsort. My eye has become very keen too; for most pennies I can tell if it is copper or zinc without even glancing at the date (copper has a distinct look to it, and also the dies change subtly in different year ranges). It's really interesting if you haven't mastered this yet, because you should start examining your LMCs and notice the die differences from 1959-1968 to 1969-1973 to 1974-1982 to 1982-1991 to 1992-2008.

I'm thinking about investing in a Ryedale some day in the future, although hopefully not too far away when it becomes too late.

[SilverDragon72]

Handsorting. That's it. I will probably never sort the volume that some folks here do.

One box at a time......

[Engineer]

I like to hand sort, but don't want to bother with sorting the zincs...so the pennies go for a couple trips through the Ryedale first. While I'm missing out on the zinc varieties, I'm going through a higher volume which gives me a better chance to fill those old holes in the album.

The leftover copper stash is just a byproduct of my wheat/BU Cu/george/young queen/indian searching.

[Zincanator]

I enjoy hand sorting as long as the copper percentages are decent. I can easily go through a $25 box in an evening. But sometimes go a bit slower on purpose -- put the family to bed, grab a cold beverage, sit down at the work bench, and browse through ten bucks worth or so. I guess I enjoy hand sorting like a lot of guys enjoy fishing - relax, add to the copper stash, and just wait for a nibble from a pre-1940 penny.

Recently I've also been filling up some coin books. So hand sorting is obviously necessary there. I bought a bunch of pill organizers from the Dollar Store, labeled each compartment by year. The first thing I do when I crack open a roll is look for the cleanest brightest coins and throw them in these pill cases by year. Then when it comes time for "Book Filling" the process is remarkably fast and the coins are always fit for display.

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[hobo finds]

What's the Doc's dogs name? Copper!

[shinnosuke]

I enjoy hand sorting as long as the copper percentages are decent. I can easily go through a $25 box in an evening. But sometimes go a bit slower on purpose -- put the family to bed, grab a cold beverage, sit down at the work bench, and browse through ten bucks worth or so. I guess I enjoy hand sorting like a lot of guys enjoy fishing - relax, add to the copper stash, and just wait for a nibble from a pre-1940 penny.

Recently I've also been filling up some coin books. So hand sorting is obviously necessary there. I bought a bunch of pill organizers from the Dollar Store, labeled each compartment by year. The first thing I do when I crack open a roll is look for the cleanest brightest coins and throw them in these pill cases by year. Then when it comes time for "Book Filling" the process is remarkably fast and the coins are always fit for display.

snap.jpg

Cool! I love this forum. The collective genius is just amazing.

[jmaii]

I hand sort as a hobby, and usually get $5 of pennies at a time. First pass sort is visual for year, making piles of <1982, 1982, and >1982. I take the 1982s and use a sound test to see if they are copper (balance on fingertip and listen to the sound when struck by a known copper penny). Will probably be getting a scale for silver, and may use that for the 1982s.