There are a few things that you'll need: access to lots of coins, information, and internet access. This lets you find it, identify it, and when you are ready, sell some for a few bucks. Once you have a few bucks extra to work with, things start to get a little easier. The appropriate term to employ here is Bootstrapping. You are starting with practically nothing, put back into the project everything you get out, and end up in a much better situation. You may have heard of the kid that took a red paper clip, traded it for something, then traded that, repeating the effort until he had a house. If not, check out his blog: One Red Paperclip. CRH is kinda like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting bigger as it moves until there is no stopping it. It just needs a little nudge to get started, maybe another here and there to help build momentum.
 |
| Unsuspecting boxes about to meet their fate |
I know there are some young people who don't have much to work with. No job, no checking account, not much to work with as far as equipment at home, and not much in the way of a steady income to work with. You can get started with nothing, absolutely nothing, but this is difficult. This calls for the additional step of finding a recycling center that accepts aluminum cans, then scrounging up as many can as you can find or some other scheme explored out of desperation. Desperation brings mistakes and behavior which can damage your reputation. I'm not getting into that level of startup. If your situation is that dire, coin roll hunting is not the answer. Since you are reading this then you are online and I assume you can probably come up with a little money. I'm talking 30-40 bucks on the high end to get started, with another couple bucks per cycle until your little enterprise is up and running. Seriously, if you can't come up with that much then this project is not for you. For you people too young to get a job, this is a door that is wide open. All you have to do is get the project off to a good start. It will grow on its own if you stick with it. You probably won't get rich from just coin roll hunting. You probably wont make a living. However, you can pick up a few bucks, even supplement your income handsomely, and this can lead to something more further down the road.
SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT
Ideally, you already have most of the stuff you will need. If not, most of this is inexpensive and will fit in that $30-40 budget:
10x loupe (If you don't have a loupe, I have some available.
ziplock bags, cups, jars, storage containers, not necessary but can be helpful
digital camera, most cell phones have one. Someone you know has one.
internet access
some flat penny wrappers sure would be handy, ask at the bank
Later on when it comes time to ship a sale you will need:
a couple of shipping envelopes, 6x9 works fine, bubble mailers are better, manila will work
$3 for postage when the time comes, and you might not need that
2x2 plastic or cardboard flips (plastic does not require a stapler)
a roll of scotch tape or packing tape
When you are able to start making sales, that income will be able to keep up with supplies and move you further along.
COINS
Somehow you've got to come up with some coins, or some cash to buy coins, or access to coins. Chances are you know someone who has a change jar and would be willing to trust you with it for a while. There are plenty of sources for rolled coins. You can pick up a few rolls at the supermarket, convenience stores, and banks. Ask people you know if they can pick some up at their bank. Getting coins is not a big issue if you have the money to pay for the rolls. The challenge before you is to build stock-move from a few rolls to at least a box. The idea is to have enough stock that the project becomes efficient. I'll talk about that more later.
Because you are on a tight budget, cents are the denomination of choice. You don't have to do cents, halves are fine if you have your heart set on them-it's your project.. With cents you get more coins for your limited funds. More coins means more chances of finding something valuable. Because of their larger mintage figures (Lincoln Cents are the most produced coin in the history of civilization), there are more die varieties in cents than any other denomination. Lincoln Cents are the most collected coin in the world. This makes your finds more marketable.
There is also a great deal of information available and plenty of it is freely accessible online. Since this is a new blog, I'll be focusing on cents as I populate it with posts and essays. It's kinda built into the blog that I'll be talking about cents most of the time. Even so, cents are a good choice for all these reasons. If you set aside hundreds of specimens, the cost is not a burden.INFORMATION
I don't care if you have the best equipment in the world or a huge pile of coins. If you can't identify the coin in your hand, you'll be hard pressed to answer the two biggest questions:
- What is this?
- What's it Worth?
Coppercoins.com
This site is operated by Chuck Daughtrey. He's forgotten more about coins than I'll ever know. The site is focused on Lincoln Cent doubled die and mintmark varieties. The search feature allows you to look up a date and mintmark, and gives you a listing of each variety in the database, with a snapshot to make it easier to quickly compare it to what you have. Each of these varieties has close up images of a specimen, with die markers. Those die markers help you confirm the identity of your coin. The image quality is outstanding in most cases. The price guides shown with each coin are the closest to reality. Each variety will have cross references cited where they are known
Doubleddie.com, aka Wexler
John Wexler has been around for a long time, is well regarded in the numismatic industry as one of the top experts in the field. Besides Lincoln cents there are listings for other series. While this site centers around doubled dies and mintmark varieties, there is also an abundance of useful information to help you study up. The photo quality is not as good as coppercoins, but there are more shots of die markers. Wexler offers attribution services where, for a reasonable fee, you can submit your finds to be identified. Newly discovered varieties are updated frequently.
Variety Vista.com
Here we find CONECA listings. This database is a little less intuitive for navigating, almost clumsy, but the listings for cents are extensive. Photos are more numerous than the other two sites, and emphasize closeups of more devices. Prices are not necessarily a reflection of true market value and often seem to be placeholders for data rather than based on fact. The listings for cents are more thorough than the other 2 sites.
None of these sites are complete. Each offers information the others may not have. Taken together, a more complete picture of known die varieties is available to you at no cost. Thirty years ago I didn't have so much as The Cherrypicker's Guide (wasn't even written yet) and Breen was long since out of print. There are other sites out there with good information which I may add here should I find the ambition, but these 3 stand above the crowd. If you are not able to identify your coin, there are forums and social networks which can provide help. Back in the day if I had a variety that I wanted to identify there was only the one local coin shop to take it to. That old grump could not be bothered. I suggest you check out some facebook groups. They are free to join, you can post photos, and get responses directly from collectors, experienced coin roll hunters and professionals with years of experience. You'll get a straight answer, even if it's not the answer you are looking for. Not everything you find is worth keeping.
Armed with information and the tools to do the job you are ready to slide into a regular routine: get coins, check them out, dispose of rejects, process the keepers, repeat. Tools are a one time fee. Information is free. Operating on a tight budget leaves getting coins as the lynch pin of the operation and disposing of rejects as an urgent need to recover the cash. I see lots of people getting rolls when they have a few bucks available, then hurrying to get them back to the bank in time to keep the rent check from bouncing. This is paycheck to paycheck living. There is no money management here. I see this all the time. Having spent years in industrial contracting I've worked with guys making union scale wages who are just as broke as a guy making minimum wage. They get a check on Friday for $1500, on Wednesday they have no lunch and are asking to borrow gas money. This is no way to live.
Then there's this guy
Being broke is a situation. Being poor is a state of mind. While I'm hoping the above video is intended as satire, it underlines the notion that you have no control over your finances and raiding a coin collection as a solution. I would wash my laundry one sock at a time in the sink by hand in cold water before I had to use a part of the coin collection for face value. People wonder how proof coins get into circulation. The answer is simple: someone was desperate. Before you reach such a dire situation, take action to keep your head above water: sell those coins. If they have no value over face, turn them in for cash, then use the cash to pick up rolls. Better yet, take the steps needed now to put yourself in a better situation so that spending your coin collection on laundry never happens.
I've talked about setting up a separate checking account for coins, but getting to the point where you can come up with a spare $100 is tough for a lot of people when there is more month at the end of the paycheck instead of the other way around. It takes so little to improve your situation. Until you break the cycle of being perpetually broke, coming up with $25 for a box of pennies will continue to be a hardship. You may have to give up a lot of things you don't want to give up. Would you rather go to a movie with popcorn and soda or have a box of coins? What's the greater priority: a case of beer with some buddies or the opportunity to get out of that endless rut? Saving money is a decision. It's up to you to make that decision.
Working Inventory
These are the coins in rolls you are going to search and those that have been searched ready to go back to the bank. Think of this as a savings account. Increasing your stock level makes it more efficient in terms of productivity. One trip to the bank gets more rolls to work with. One trip to the other bank drops more off. For the same effort put into errands you have more coins to search. Set a target of $25-enough for a box of pennies. It's enough to get you through a weekend. Conduct your search, pick put scores of better specimens, cycle them through your drop and pickup banks. With each cycle you'll need a couple bucks to replace what you are picking out. Making a commitment of $5 per week should not be a deal breaker. I'm fully aware that there are weeks when $5 simply is not on hand-I was in my 20s once. Adding a few bucks at a time to this project will get you from practically nothing to a full box in a few weeks and eventually you will reach the point where you can get several boxes of cents at a time, or expand into nickels at $100/box. You've got to find a way to come up with a few bucks each week and keep this money separate from your wallet and keep it up long enough to start finding those coins with enough value to sustain the project without your continued investment. All you are doing is seeding the project. It may take a couple hundred dollars to get to the point it is efficient and your experience is such that you are making regular finds.
This working inventory can rise and fall. What matters is processing the coins and finding those more valuable specimens. Pull out a few dozen keepers out of a box of 2500, you are bound to find something noteworthy. During those times when your inventory is strong, pick out all you can and cycle them for another round. You may reach a point where you are pulling the goods out of rolls so fast that you don't have time to identify and store your picks.
 |
| I have NO IDEA what's in this bag. Schrödinger's Coins? |
Limited Inventory
Back in high school, my little sister and her friend raided my coin collection to treat themselves to candy and soda. I was about 15 which would put her at about 6 years old. Her understanding of property, money, and value was not yet fully developed. They just wanted some candy. The point to this story is to show that there are cases in which keeping a large amount of raw, sorted, or selected coins is not a practical option. It would be difficult to maintain an extensive coin inventory in a college dormitory or fraternity. Back in the day I lived in a couple of run down apartments. I've shared apartments with people who have gone through my things. I've had my home broken into and my entire collection stolen. In light of intemperate youth, siblings, frequent guests, roommates, faulty doors and windows, and troubled neighborhoods, it may not be productive to carry any more stock than is absolutely necessary. Some sort of locking cabinet may be in order. The best plan in your situation may be listing items for sale as fast as you find them.
A box of 2500 cents, or several, may not be practical in your situation. A deep search on 130+ dates and mintmarks can be daunting and lengthy. It ties up cash, takes up table and storage space, takes time to process, and can walk away. It may be prudent to pick out only a few select dates for inspection. A hunt for WAMs, Shield DDOs, 1971 and 1972 DDOs, with 1984 Doubled Ear thrown in for good measure can yield better results than a topical search for wheats. You may not hit every date and mintmark every time, but with each cycle, you learn what to look for. If you have never conducted a deep search on a box of cents, I recommend you try it. Your working inventory, target dates and search method are dependent on your situation, abilities and desires. There are no rules. All I can do is offer suggestions.
Get the Most Out Of The Rolls
A topical search will find wheats and silver real easy. It's quick, you can burn through a box in no time. You can cash a paycheck to pick up bulk rolls, devastate several boxes in a weekend and have the money back into the bank first thing Monday morning. Wheats are great to find, but their value is low at 4¢ each. Expand your search strategy to a deeper search. Taking the time to look for WAMs can give you a solid boost. They are easy to identify, 1 WAM in 10 boxes is worth as much or more than all those wheats, and you can sell it real easy. A DDO can easily exceed the value of a 90% Kennedy. This deep search is where the working inventory is key to the operation. A deep search demands you keep some of those rolls around for a while: You need the time to go through each coin because just about every year has something to find. If you get into sorting, you'll start to accumulate bags or containers waiting to be inspected. In my experience, there is a gain in efficiency in being able to inspect many examples of a specific date and mintmark rather than jump from one date to another. The percentage of time invested chasing down rolls and wrapping the rejects drops in relation to the value of the results of your search. I would estimate my sorted cent inventory to be around $400. I inspect the best part of a box of cents in a week, but its only a few dates. I can choose which dates to inspect at any given time, prioritizing those dates which yield the best results.
Quit Coinstar
It only takes an hour or two to roll a box of coins, be it cents or quarters. Paying 9% for the machine to count for you will bleed you dry at $45 for a box of quarters-that's a day's pay for someone earning minimum wage!.
 | |
| Coin counting tubes and flat wrappers |
Eliminate Special Trips
I live way out in the woods. To drive from here to the bank is a 30 mile round trip. I get 20 MPG in that truck. Gas is $2.50/gallon. Doing the math shows a special trip to the bank costs me $3.75, almost as much as the coinstar fee on a box of cents. If I'm not pulling that much value out of the cents I pick up, I'm losing money. Take advantage of where you are, pick up rolls when it is practical. Driving past the bank is the time to make a stop. When I wrap my rejects I store them in the truck for when I find myself driving by my drop bank. I save on gas but I have more working inventory. My pickup bank is down the road from my drop bank. I can kill two birds with one stone. If I need to visit the bank that holds my household account, I deposit rolls while I'm at it. Cash goes into the glove compartment for my next visit to my pickup bank. I also have a few bucks available to grab a couple rolls at a store if I happen to stop in. I don't bother to deposit quarters. 1 roll will be used when I stop to pick up bread and milk. 1 or 2 rolls will pay for gas for several days.
Sell Off Some Of Your Finds
I've talked about selling coins online and I'm sure I'll get into more details later. It's a sure bet that expanding from a topical search into a deep search routine will bring more coins of greater value. Put the best up for auction, put several together in a group to sell. If you want to make $50, you need to list at least $50 in coin value, probably more-not everything will sell and those items that do may not reach your desired price. When you make a sale, put that money back into the project. Get more equipment that helps you find varieties, consider a better camera that takes better photographs to improve your sales. You are the one benefiting from this. Reinvest those funds in yourself.
Selling is the point at which a whole new world of opportunity opens up. It gives you cashflow. In the face of low cost supplies, cashflow can give you whatever equipment you need. Once the equipment is in place, you have positive cash flow to put towards more coins which you can sell for a profit, or improve your situation. Before you sell, you have to identify what you have. Before that, you have to find something to identify. This brings you back to needing a working inventory, and for that you have to get the project going, even if its just a couple bucks here and there. All I'm showing you here is one potential path you can take to find opportunity. How far down that path you travel is up to you. There are plenty of people out there who are doing this every day. It takes time to gain experience and it takes a few dollars to get started. If you get involved for a while, you'll learn what things are, get a good idea of what they are worth. No matter what the future holds, you'll be able to grab a handful of coins and find something of value. That's a useful skill to have in your back pocket.
No comments:
Post a Comment