New member

[ddotn3d]

If I am doing this correctly I am Introducing myself to you. My user name is Ddotn3d. I don't know if we use real names. Anyway, I live in Orlando, I'm 58 and I believe it was about 15 months ago that I found myself interested in Numismatics. I didn't know that it had a name at the time and it was not anything I had ever heard of. Life happened and I couldn't work so I was going through some thing and found a film container full of Sacagawea dollars I must have stashed. Wondering there value ,I looked them up and that was when it happened. I discovered, what they called it, errors on coins. I did not have a wounded eagle but I was intrigued. I will wrap it up by saying I bought some books and some magnifiers and watch as many videos as I can. There is so much to learn before I can cherrypick but I hope one day I will. This the most you will have to read from me at one time, I promise. I know that I am with those who know and I'm a good listener. I am not a member, yet, that I know but I did send the paperwork and dues for 2 years. I would be honored to be in this company. Thank you

[MintErrors]

Welcome aboard.

Visiting a coin show to cherry pick is done with some preparation. I have seen a hand of cherry pickers at shows. Most of them have a list of hand written notes which describe what they are looking for. The notes in a short bullet format in a small book seemed to be a theme.

The biggest thing in my opinion is choosing coin series to cherry pick that can produce some winner results. Some third party grading services won't verify varieties unless the owner of the coin pays for the service, so some slabbed coins can have varieties on them and already be graded and authenticated as a genuine coin but they didn't verify the variety.

It's best to keep the cherry picking list quiet and discreet. This way the dealers won't know and they wont ramp up prices. Scan the cases for any varieties in their cases. They either have them or they don't know about them. That's a double edged sword. They may know of a few select varieties or simply do not care for them.

Lastly you need to know the varieties you hunt. There are dealers and people in general that might not be correct on things like doubled dies or potential errors. With a lot of fakes out in the world, one has to be very careful as well.

Pcgs.com probably has the best organization for researching data on varieties.
You go to the price guide
Pick the coin type you want to research
If the page does not show all of the years, at the last year listed, to the bottom left of that is a pull down menu. Set that to ALL.
Then find the year of the coin you want to see.
Look just to the left of the date. If it has varieties, it will have a plus sign next to it
click the plus sign and the list will expand.
Each variety should have a proprietary number near the year as a link, you can click that and see good examples of the variety.

Ngccoin.com offers some photos as well under their resources area called variety plus
they tend to use a VP number sometimes, it's best to see if they have listed other cross reference numbers.

Happy hunting.

[ddotn3d]

Thank you for that information. The PGCS info especially. I did not know that. Yes, when I think about it, Cherry Picking is being a doctor and I am still in calculus. I read Dr.Herberts "price guide to mint errors" daily. The first time through it I was lost in what the definitions meant. I have a 5 gallon water bottle of coins that was 1/2 full that I separated into denomination, clean and dirty , red, red brown, brown and disgusting. I ended up with 47 lbs of coins. I am still working on my first batch. I started with the not so pristine coins but I still learn so much that I am just now getting comfortable putting them in the " save for the future in case I missed something. I feel pretty confident of being able to tell what is machine doubling. I appreciate the link and will watch it. I used to play guitar and write songs so I know that I can never learn enough. This is the reason I want to be a member. I can only imagine what I am in store for. I am truly fascinated with coins now. I could go on but , again, thank you

[MintErrors]

One other book that is pretty decent and walks you through the minting process, explaining some of the errors as well, is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Error-Coin-En.../dp/B004YL9WA0

It typically can be had for less than $40.00 usd, but you have to search for it. The newest version as far as I know has a Morgan Dollar about 45% off center on the dust jacket.

One other "free" reference is a dated version of Arnie explaining some processes of the mint and errors here:
https://archive.org/details/ArnoldMargolis1990ANAb

Happy Hunting.

[MintErrors]

Thank you for that information. The PGCS info especially. I did not know that. Yes, when I think about it, Cherry Picking is being a doctor and I am still in calculus. I read Dr.Herberts "price guide to mint errors" daily. The first time through it I was lost in what the definitions meant. I have a 5 gallon water bottle of coins that was 1/2 full that I separated into denomination, clean and dirty , red, red brown, brown and disgusting. I ended up with 47 lbs of coins. I am still working on my first batch. I started with the not so pristine coins but I still learn so much that I am just now getting comfortable putting them in the " save for the future in case I missed something. I feel pretty confident of being able to tell what is machine doubling. I appreciate the link and will watch it. I used to play guitar and write songs so I know that I can never learn enough. This is the reason I want to be a member. I can only imagine what I am in store for. I am truly fascinated with coins now. I could go on but , again, thank you

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One other book that is pretty decent and walks you through the minting process, explaining some of the errors as well, is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Error-Coin-En.../dp/B004YL9WA0

It typically can be had for less than $40.00 usd, but you have to search for it. The newest version as far as I know has a Morgan Dollar about 45% off center on the dust jacket.

One other "free" reference is a dated version of Arnie explaining some processes of the mint and errors here:
https://archive.org/details/ArnoldMargolis1990ANAb

Happy Hunting.

[ddotn3d]

As I re-read these posts and the amount of information in them, I tell myself to slow down. I have only seen the ripple of the tip of the iceberg. I fully understand the subtlety of Cherry Picking. Heck, I don't even know what I'm doing yet. Right now leaning my way arou d this forum will be enough for awhile. I do have a question about the encyclopedia. I found two for sale with the same exact cover, used( 59.99 and 99.99). Also one with a different coin onthe cover. Before I buy I wanted to make sure I buy the better book. When I look at some of the coins I have come across I wonder "what did this?" Does anyone know how hot something needs to be to melt a coin? Good news, I am now a member. Thank you for your time .