By Douglas Keefe,
Beachcomber Coins
I’ve written recently about valuable coins that can be found in regular pocket change. Whether you are a seasoned collector or a novice weekend treasure hunter, there are some basic tools and reference books you will need to assist your efforts.
First, a couple of magnifying glasses are in order. First, try a low magnification glass of around 5-power. That lets you scan the coins quickly, yet gives sufficient magnification to see most varieties as well as letting you examine the condition and wear on the coin to determine its grade. My second choice is a 10-power magnifying glass that allows closer examination of small details such as mintmarks and lettering.
To know what to look for regarding currency, use basic reference books that list and show varieties that may have value. My first choice is “A Guide Book of United States Coins (The Official Red Book)”. In addition to listing all United States coins ever minted, it also lists major collectible varieties. A companion book, “The Professional Edition of the Red Book”, goes into more detail on other varieties and provides good illustrations. Both books include most major varieties. Another set of books that list varieties is the two-volume “Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties”.
Paper money is susceptible to errors that may go unnoticed at casual examination. For instance, in some cases the left and right serial numbers on paper money are not the same due to one side of the device that prints the numbers getting stuck. Another error that would not be caught by casual viewing is the reverse of the note being upside-down, the result of the sheet of notes being fed into the printer upside-down. And the granddaddy of errors, the front and back of a note being of a different denomination. These and many other examples of collectible and valuable notes are listed in the book “United States Paper Money Errors”.
I hope this column encourages someone to pay closer attention to the coins and currency that goes through your hands. And if you do find something of value, please share it with me so I can anonymously write about your find.
