Coin Roll Hunting and Coin Collecting Axioms

I like the word axiom.  It makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about.  If you prefer "tenet" then by all means, employ it at your pleasure.  The point here is to identify fundamental principles which will further the hobby.

Axiom 1:  There are exceptions to every rule.

Except for this rule.  Wait...what?
Another way to say it is "There are NO absolutes".  This statement, of course, IS an absolute, so there goes that theory.  Think of it as Anything Can Happen Day.  When you think you've nailed down an idea, be ready to scrap it.  Be flexible in your thinking.  Keep "maybe not" in the back of your mind because it may not be what you think it is.

Axiom 2:  Inspect every coin.

Coin roll hunting is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get.  That Lincoln Cent Die Variety Cheat Sheet barely scratches the surface of what can be found.  Just about every date and mintmark has die varieties.  Every coin has the potential for errors.  I see people pick out wheats.  They are nice, I keep them all, but that's not where the money is.  You can find more value in die varieties from a single box than all the wheats from scores of boxes.  For all the work that goes into getting and disposing of coins, it's a shame to let these slip through your fingers

There are coins that are screwed up, scraped, bent, holed, painted, burned, cut, and damaged beyond recognition.  For anything but the most sought after varieties so much value is lost the coins are worth face.  Experience will be your guide as to what to skip.  Until you have that experience, check every coin.

Axiom 3: When in doubt, Keep It.

If you are not sure if the coin is valuable or if it is an error or variety, set it aside for later inspection.  As you gain experience, you'll be better able to judge the nature of the coin and if it is worth keeping.  The investment is face value.  If you later decide the coin is not worthy, you get all your money back. 

Axiom 4: Start with the assumption of damage.

Most oddities and anomalies are the result of damage.  Contact damage, machine doubling, stains and discoloration, heat, and contamination can all alter the appearance of a coin.  All too often new collectors start with the assumption that the coin is a mint error.  That's the wrong way to go about it.  By assuming damage, you must then prove the coin is an error or variety.  If you can't prove it, you can always keep it for further review (Axiom #3) when you have more experience to bring to bear.  If you can prove it, the evidence will be in place to support your claim.

You will encounter post mint damage, PMD, all the time.  There are 750 Billion coins out there in the US alone. Every one of them can be damaged in a different way and still there would be countless more ways to damage a coin.  I recommend you go through another 50,000 pennies. You can probably do that in a year.  You'll have a much better idea of how they are damaged and how to identify them.

Axiom 5:  Nobody knows it all or is right 100% of the time.

Except Ken Potter.  That guy knows what he's talking about.
The quest for knowledge has it's place.  For those times when you don't know, further research is needed.  Websites abound with good information, but even the Big 3 taken together are not a complete picture of what is out there.  The old saying "buy the book before you buy the coin" is just as meaningful today as it ever was.   A coin book library is as important to a coin collection as a cook book is to a well stocked pantry.

 

Axiom 6:  Price Lists are Price Guides.

We work with a free market economy subject to fluctuations from all causes.  Spot prices of precious metals, auction records, promotions and advertising, even a small mention in the news and mass media can cause interest and subsequent demand to rise and fall with immediate and corresponding changes in prices.   On a small scale with a single coin and handful of bidders, it really is Anything Can Happen Day.

Axiom 7:  Coin Collecting is a hobby of accumulation and a journey of personal development.

As you progress you'll accumulate coins, equipment, and paraphernalia.  Personally you'll accumulate knowledge, gain experience, and develop wisdom.  Knowledge is the craft.  Experience is gained through activity.  Wisdom is what you hand out to those seeking either. 
The way we learn has not changed since we first developed tools and reason.  The young learn from the old.  The old teach the young.  This is the way of things.  We all have different levels of development.  One is never too old to learn nor too young to teach.

Axiom 8: Verify Authenticity.

There are fakes out there.  Some coins have been altered, others have been struck entirely from counterfeit dies.  Weigh it, measure it, compare it to a genuine example.  Take the process as far as you can.  If you still have doubts and have exhausted your abilities and know-how, get the coin in front of someone with more experience.  The devil is in the details.

The proof is in the pudding.

 

Axiom 8:  Assume Doubling is Not a Doubled Die

The overwhelming majority of questions regarding doubling result in machine doubling and die deterioration being the explanation.  Identifying die varieties is a process of elimination, comparison, and discovery.  A thorough understanding of md and worn dies is vital to your understanding of die varieties.  By eliminating md and worn dies, most of the anomalous coins will be out of the way, letting you focus on more difficult specimens.

Machine Doubling (md)
Israel Rodriguez
Georgia

Axiom 9: If the doubling on the date is the same as the doubling on the mintmark, it is md every time.

The exception to this rule is that it applies to coins minted before 1990.  Until then, the mintmark was applied to the die by hand.  If the die was already doubled during the hubbing process, the mintmark would be unaffected.  There are examples of machine doubling on doubled dies.  There are examples of machine doubling with RPMs. 

Axiom 10: When coin roll hunting, Persistence is better than luck.

You'll hear me say it all the time: They are out there.  Experience, information, and persistence have a cumulative property.  It's impossible to say what you'll find in your next coin roll hunting box, but it's a sure bet you'll find more keepers in your 100th box than you will in your first.

Axiom 11: If all you are doing is searching for wheats and silver, you're leaving the big money behind.

There's so much stuff out there I'm surprised I don't trip over it.

Axiom 12: Suppress the desire to announce your new find.  

Announcing the find prematurely will make for an awkward situation if it turns out to be something other than what you thought it was.  When you discover something, set it aside with another coin of the same date and grade.  Look at them again tomorrow.  If you can determine which one is the discovery, you may have something.

Axiom 13:  If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right

This is a hobby after all.  

Axiom 14:  A key indicator that something is not rare is when you have lots of them.

You found a dozen 1982-D Small Date Copper cents?  Really?

Axiom 15:  Activity Builds Experience. Experience Builds Confidence.

Get out there, get your hands dirty.  The more you do, the more you learn.  I've said it before:

There is nothing you can't do.  As soon as you believe that, it becomes true.

Axiom 16:  The more assumptions needed to prove a theory, the more likely it is to be wrong.

This one showed up on a social network recently.  The post asks what caused the anomaly.  Two theories were offered.

1.  A mint error
2.  A vice job

Let's look at the Mint Error theory and see if it holds water:

First, a cent was struck. Later, the cent was struck again by what appears to be a dime die, as evidenced by the oak leaf design on the chin. The E above God is facing to the right so the idea is that it was struck by the mint, except its incuse on the coin so it would have to be struck by a hub rather than a die. Somehow, with all the pressure exerted by the press (with the hub in place of the die) it only left a partial imprint...oh...and the collar had to be between the planchet (cent) and the hub, and something musta been between the reverse of the cent and the other die that only flattened the devices and not impart a second design.

This is a rather elaborate theory.

Let's look at the Vice Job Theory:

A dime was pressed into the cent.

The mark of the rim of the dime checks out. 

The oakleaf is upside down. and incuse which supports the idea that the incuse E above god would point to the right.

The reverse has flatter areas because of the pressure exerted by the vice..

This all support the simple notion of cent and dime in vice operated by a madman bent on global destruction.

Occam's Razor: the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

Axiom 17: Anytime you have a bad feeling about a coin, Go With That Feeling

You've been handling coins ever since you first learned to put a penny in the gumball machine.  You know what they look like, how they feel and when they look out of place.  Coin Collecting has you focusing on more particular aspects and characteristics of specific coins.  Experience and knowledge are your guides.  Heed your intuition when it tells you something is amiss.

Axiom 18: Don't Clean Your Coins

The first thing you wash away is numismatic value.

Axiom 19:  If you don't know what you are buying, DON'T BUY IT.