Change of coin strategy.

[Jacob]

It came across my mind that I need to slow down and look more closely to the coins. I was checking out coppercoins site and realized I could of missed a quite a few doubled dies that Im after. I would use a 4x magnifier and if extra thickness showed in right area I would use a 7X or 16X magnifier. Some of the doubled dies can be real tricky and can easily be missed by a 4X magnifier. I believe that certain doubled dies are easily being missed and making them seem rare when its more scope power needed to see them. For example the 1990 1DO-003 I don't believe can be seen by a 4X. The 1996 1DO-001 is the same way. I hear about others talk bout how many coins they look through to be honest I feel bad for you I think they are missing out on a lot of good die varieties. When I slowed down I was finding more stuff (sadly just started this year). When I sped through them through out the years my finds were small and limited. While I slowed down this year Ive pulled more of the rarer die varieties since January than my entire life it says something. Its not so much a lucky streak its some need closer examination MDS and LDS coins. EDS coins are mostly strong and jump out at you. It was just something I wanted to try out and be more patient while looking at coins sorta like a new years resolution. Been going at a slower pace since and glad I did.

[penny man]

Yeah, I hear you. I used to go through everything really fast, just putting a few of the dates with bigger varieties aside for later examination. Now I look at everything under at least 10x before tossing it, and I find way more stuff.

[Arjohn]

I don't have an eye for many of these varieties. I can't see many of the "Doubled" items displayed without an explanation. A few members have been very generous and sent me DD's and I'll be honest with them telling me what to look for and where, I was able to see some of it, but -- I'd never notice looking through a 40X loupe! I just have to admit I don't have the eye for it. I caught on with clashes -- but have not found any yet (but was again generously sent examples -- and Boom -- I caught on to those right away. So I guess what I am saying we may all have different things that we seek and find easier than others. So changing makes sense too. I hope with experience I'll gain an eye and go back, searching some of the "nice" cache I have kept. Wish you joy and satisfaction - moving in the new direction....

[GrumpyEd]

Either idea works but the result is different.
I mean you can look very carefully and find minor things you might have missed. You can go at light speed or only look at years with known big ones and only look at the obverses.
Some people only want the big varieties, others want everything.
If your time is limited and you only want big varieties then the faster search will let you look at more total coins.

For me, it's dependent on how many coins I have to search or how much time I have to search.
I've used many variations of searching.
It also matters if I have mixed dates or solid rolls, if I have solid rolls then it's more worth looking up that year and looking far all possible varieties when I search them. If I have a mixed bag, I might blow through it faster knowing I'll miss some minor stuff.

[willbrooks]

We've talked about this before. I was stunnned when I heard people say they search an entire brick in a couple of hours. But I'm with Ed, it all depends on what your goals are. If you are just looking for major doubled dies, then I guess it makes sense. As for me, I couldn't care less if I miss a class 9 column or knee, but NO WAY I'm gonna miss a major rotation, or an 83 bronze, or a dropped letter (which could be ANYWHERE on the coin), etc. because I am in a hurry. I take my time enough to ensure I don't miss any really cool errors. If you just sort by the "good dates," you are going to miss this stuff.