Coin Roll Hunting Project: Assemble a Complete Set of a Series

Here's a project for Coin Roll Hunters: Assemble a complete set of a particular series from circulation.
This is a project that is well suited for getting the kids involved.

If you haven't figured it out from the name of this blog, I work primarily with Lincoln Cents. 

I go through thousands of them regularly and can say with experience that it is entirely possible to put together a handsome set of Lincoln Memorial Cents simply by searching through circulated rolls.  The more you search through, the better the condition and the more complete your set will become.  What's more, during the process you'll be able to start a set of Wheats, find some errors and varieties, pick up some foreign coins from time to time, and learn a great deal in the process.  Doing this with the kids, it becomes a learning experience and is quality time spent developing their skills.  As an added perk, it does not cost much.

The Memorial Reverse Design began in 1959, on the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent Obverse design.  The previous 50 years, 1909-1958, the Wheat Reverse Design was used.  In 2009 the reverse was changed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the design as well as the bicentennial of Abe Lincoln's birth.  With the next year came the Union Shield design which will probably continue into the foreseeable future.  All of these are easily found in circulation, including specimens from all 3 mints: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Fransisco.  There are doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, changes in metal composition, minor design varieties, large and small dates, errors, circulated and uncirculated specimens...you've got the whole numismatic spectrum to work with, all in a box of pennies. 

A box of rolled cents can be picked up an your bank for $25.  This is a tidy box of 50 rolls, 2500 coins.  It will weigh about 16 pounds so it won't break your back and a kid could carry one.  In that box will be a wide assortment of dates and mintmarks.  If $25 is too much to bear, a few rolls at a time will get you though.  There's no hurry on this project.  Your objective is to pick out the best example of each date and mintmark available in order to complete your set.  Mind you, there are 128 different dates, mintmarks, and  reverse designs produced for circulation since 1959. 

51 Different Dates and Mintmarks from 1941-1958

You probably won't find every one of them in a single box.  Experience says you may need to search through several boxes to complete a set.  Rather than tie up a whole bunch of cash, you can just do one box or a number of roll at a time.   What you don't keep you roll up and take back to the bank.  Start a savings account or college fund for the kids if you are so inclined.

The first batch of cents will get you off to a fine start.  The bigger the batch, the more complete the set will be, and the better condition the selected specimens will be.  This is a project where statistics is the key factor in determining what you find.  Around half of the coins in the batch will be modern-produced since the turn of the century.  Many of these will have full luster and be in great condition.  Another third will be older, 1980s and 90s, but will still offer high grade specimens.  About 15% will be 1960s and 1970s, and many of these will be brown, with plenty of visible wear.  In every few dollars in face value yoou search through, there's a pretty good chance of finding a wheat cent. 

There is a process that evolves:
Get the coins
Sort them by year and mintmark
Select the best specimen to add to your collection or replace what you have
Take back the rejects
Repeat

With each iteration of the process, your collection will grow and improve.  You'll also learn as you go, becoming able to identify small and large dates, zinc and copper, Wide AMs and Close AMs, as well as what to look at for die varieties.  For a couple of bucks, you can pick up a magnifying glass to better identify some of these varieties.  You'll pick up some flips or an album to better organize your collection.  You may wish to purchase a loupe or better desk lamp.  This is a hobby of accumulation.  Over time, those tools and supplies will help you to expand into other series besides Lincoln Cents.

Here's a short video:

 

Lincoln Memorial Cent, Business Strike

Memorial Reverse Design.  This specimen is off center.

See also: a short list of die varieties, The Cheat Sheet
Lincoln Cents Checklist 1909-2017

Good Luck
Happy Hunting