I surely will be labeled a geek when I tell you what I did last night. It surprised even me, Mr. TV reporter. Mr. Too Busy to Stop and Smell the Roses. But last night, for a full hour, there were no thoughts about work or the pressures of raising a family. It was just me, my wife and a magnifying glass.
And a big ol’ jar full of pennies.
Putting pennies into one of those specially-made penny albums was actually my wife’s idea. She’s the coin-lover of the family, and has been ever since her father, who’s now deceased, left behind several rolls of Lincoln Wheat Cents. My wife still keeps them in a drawer. It was her idea to buy a penny album. She was busy filling it last night when I joined in.
My first observation was that pennies, a common coin with the least value, see the most amount of “travel,” making it difficult to find one that isn’t soiled, scratched or tarnished beyond recognition. We were being choosy. Only the best and brightest for our penny album! Yet some 1990s pennies looked older and more worn than some of the best 1960s pennies. Are we allowed to clean them, or is that considered cheating? Neither of us knew, so we opted to leave them in their natural condition.
Next, we discovered that people in their forties have a difficult time seeing the letter “D” below the year. A “D” indicates the coin was minted in Denver, Colorado, and most pennies, except for those made from 1965 to 1967 have a “D” version. Older people need a magnifying glass to see it, and my wife and I could only scrounge up one.
Still, we managed to fill quite a few empty slots in that one hour. The newer pennies were the easiest. Pennies from the ’60s and ’70s pennies were slow-going, understandably. To my delight, my wife produced a beautiful 1962 penny from my birth year. It’s odd holding a penny in your hand that’s been on this earth for as long as you have.
The only stress of the night had to do with pennies from the year 1982. There are seven –I repeat– seven pennies from that year, and telling them apart takes more skill (and better vision) than either of us had. The 1982 series breaks down like this:
- 1982 Cop. Lg. Dt.
- 1982 Cop. Sm. Dt.
- 1982 Zn. Lg. Dt.
- 1982 Zn. Sm. Dt.
Cop. stands for copper. Zn. stands for zinc. Lg. Dt. means “large date.” Sm. Dt. indicates “small date.” Throw in three more pennies marked “D,” and you have yourself a penny-identification nightmare. Even if you can differentiate between the size in dates, telling copper from zinc ain’t easy, my brother!
Here’s a “how to” guide I found on a coin collectors forum:
Yeah right.
The important thing is, we had a great time sitting at our table looking at pennies, of all things. And if you’re chuckling over the mental image of this, notice how you thought of nothing else but pennies while reading this post. Hey, I’ll bet you’re even reaching into your pocket, hoping to locate a penny with a “D” beneath the date.
Do you see one?
A penny for your thoughts.
(Fun and games: Which one of these images of a penny is correct?)
A quick note about the author: Tim Waller lives in Greenville, South Carolina. He is a news reporter at Hearst Television station WYFF-TV. 
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7 comments
Karen says:
November 18, 2008 at 4:58 pm (UTC -6 )
I have a penny with Lincoln facing a small etched Kennedy – legal tender – that I got in some change about 35 years ago. Look up all the historic coincidences between the two. Two are: Lincoln’s secretary was Kennedy. Kennedy’s was Lincoln. Both were assassinated.
Tim says:
November 18, 2008 at 7:42 pm (UTC -6 )
Karen,
Sounds like you stumbled onto a rarity. Are there more pennies like that out there? I clearly have a lot to learn about collectible coins, but my curiosity, and my wife’s, has been peaked! Thanks for the comment.
Tim
catchthespindan says:
November 20, 2008 at 4:23 pm (UTC -6 )
You think you were bored? Last night I wrote about 250,000 Pakistanis fleeing with scissors in hand.
Tim says:
November 20, 2008 at 4:46 pm (UTC -6 )
I’ll take pennies any day over figuring out why there was a run on scissors in Pakistan. Great site you have there!
Tom says:
February 22, 2009 at 4:17 am (UTC -6 )
Great site with lots of information.I have been collecting coins for quite some time and recently made a mini course of what I know.Keeping the coins safe from scratches is the biggest problem, the grade suffers…
Tim says:
March 3, 2009 at 4:12 pm (UTC -6 )
You’re right about that, Tom. My wife and I may have tons of pennies, but many of them are scratched from being in a jar. I appreciate the info.
Manny says:
October 5, 2010 at 10:52 am (UTC -6 )
For me i have been collecting coins for a year and my coin book holder for my penny is only missing 1991-d but in the 1982 is also empty because of the same problem. Also from 1909-1973 is not complete.