Here's a review of my 2010 coin searching effort ...

I started coin searching coin in 2007. Every year I've wanted to post some sort of year in review, but never got around to it. I always review things in my head, but just never posted.

At the start of this year I assumed things would be tough. I knew I'd be a lot busier this year and would have less time to search and it seemed likely that my new variety count would go way down as the remaining coins are getting fewer. I was a bit wrong. Things were certainly busy and although I searched less coins than I had in previous years, I did still find some good stuff. I got really lucky once this year and found eight new dime varieties in one roll of almost solid Mercury dimes. That definitely helped my new variety count. I also think I'm just getting better at spotting proof quarters and dimes. The new variety count for the years 2008-2010 was 161, 86 and 60. The oldest coin I found in 2010 was a 1888 US penny and the best was a 1900O Barber half.

For 2011 I plan to search a bit more than 2010. I really hope to find more new Wheats (finding just one in 2010 kind of stunk), get my hands on more dollar coins and finish my Roosevelt album.

[] - denotes the rank of statistic compared to the years 2007-2010

DOLLARS

66 large dollars [4th] and 4,246 small dollars [2nd] were searched.

Proof Dollars

I didn't find any of these this year.

Mint Set Dollars (eight found, seven varieties)

2002D, 2003P, 2003D, 2004P, 2004D(2), 2005D, 2006P

HALVES

420,518 halves [2nd] were searched.

Silver Halves (208 90% silver found, 934 40% silver found, 37 varieties, three new ones)

The 1900O Barber I found is probably my best coin of the year. I was a bit bummed to not find any new Franklins (just need three to complete my album!), but finding two new Walkers for my album is pretty cool.

1900O, 1917, 1918S, 1934, 1935S, 1938, 1940, 1941S, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947D, 1949, 1951, 1951D, 1951S, 1952, 1952D, 1953, 1954, 1957D, 1958D, 1959, 1959D, 1960, 1962, 1962D, 1963, 1963D, 1964, 1964D, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968D, 1969D, 1970D

Proof Halves (171 found, 38 varieties, three new ones)

Of the proof halves 1968S-2010S, I found all of them except 1968S, 1970S, 1997S, 2008S. This year I found the most proof halves ever. In one sitting I found thirty-two! I didn't find any 90% silver proof halves this year and although not a proof, I didn't find any examples of the 1976S Ag (circ).

Commemorative Halves

I didn't find any older, silver, commemoratives this year, but I did find two new ones for me. In one sitting I found three Statue of Liberty halves.

1986S Statue of Liberty (5), 1989S Centennial of Congress (2), 1995S Civil War (circ.)

Silver Canadian Halves

This is the first foreign silver I've found in half dollar rolls.

1959

QUARTERS

253,840 quarters searched [3rd]. In all of these were sixteen new ones for me.

Silver Quarters (32 found, 17 varieties, four new ones)

I'm still anxiously awaiting my finding of a silver quarter hoard and I can't wait to find a quarter older than 1935.

1940, 1941, 1943, 1943S, 1952, 1953D, 1954(3), 1957, 1957D, 1958D, 1959, 1959D, 1961D(2), 1962D(2), 1963(2), 1964(7), 1964D(5)

Proof Quarters (five found, five varieties, four new ones)

1994S, 1999S DE, 2001S KY, 2004S TX, 2006S SD

Silver Canadian Quarters (four found, three varieties)

1963, 1967, 1968(2)

DIMES

215,750 dimes searched [4th]; fourteen new varieties found.

Silver Dimes (196 found, 55 varieties, eight new ones)

A lot the Mercury dimes on this list came from one roll I came across that had forty-five Mercury dimes in it! I've now got just two silver Rosies to go to complete my Roosevelt album.

1916, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1938S, 1939, 1940, 1940D, 1941S, 1942, 1942D, 1943, 1943S, 1944, 1944D, 1945, 1945S, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1950S, 1951, 1951D, 1952, 1952D, 1953, 1953D, 1954, 1954D, 1955D, 1956, 1957, 1957D, 1958, 1958D, 1959, 1959D, 1960, 1960D, 1961, 1961D, 1962, 1962D, 1963, 1963D, 1964, 1964D

Proof Dimes (three found, three varieties, three new ones)

During the last third of the year I changed my search technique to try to find more clad proof dimes.

1957, 1983S, 1989S

Silver Canadian Dimes (six found, six varieties)

1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967

NICKELS

116,060 searched [4th]; six new varieties found.

V Nickels

I didn't find any this year. I haven't found one since June, 2009.

Buffaloes (fourteen found, five varieties, one new one)

I found six dateless Buffaloes.

1924, 1925, 1930, 1934, 1937(3)

War Nickels (forty-seven found, nine varieties)

I didn't find the 1943D or the 1944S.

1942P(2), 1942S(2), 1943P(12), 1943S(4), 1944P(8), 1944D(2), 1945P(7), 1945D(2), 1945S(8)

Proof Nickels (four found, four varieties, three new ones)

1968S Proof, 1975S, 1997S, 2003S

Key And Semi-Key Jeffersons (ten found, five varieties)

Mid-way through the year I changed my search technique for nickels so I don't expect to find these as much as I used to.

1938S, 1939S, 1950(3), 1951S(3), 1955(2)

PENNIES

444,050 searched [4th]; eight new varieties found.

Indians (three found, three varieties, two new ones)

The 1888 Indian penny I found turned out to be my oldest find of the year.

1888, 1890, 1896

Wheats (3,038 found, 98 varieties, one new one)

1909, 1909 VDB, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1916D, 1917, 1917D, 1918, 1919, 1919D, 1919S, 1920, 1920S, 1921, 1923, 1923S, 1924, 1924S, 1925, 1926, 1926D, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1929D, 1929S, 1930, 1931, 1932D, 1934, 1935, 1935S, 1936, 1936D, 1936S, 1937, 1937D, 1937S, 1938, 1939, 1939S, 1940, 1940D, 1940S, 1941, 1941D, 1942, 1942D, 1942S, 1943, 1943S, 1944, 1944D, 1944S, 1945, 1945D, 1945S, 1946, 1946D, 1946S, 1947, 1947D, 1947S, 1948, 1948D, 1948S, 1949, 1949D, 1949S, 1950, 1950D, 1950S, 1951, 1951D, 1951S, 1952, 1952D, 1952S, 1953, 1953D, 1953S, 1954, 1954D, 1954S, 1955, 1955D, 1955S, 1956, 1956D, 1957, 1957D, 1958, 1958D

Proofs

This year I found my first (and only so far) proof penny in a roll. I've got to start searching a bit more seriously for these. I also found the 1977S (proof) on the floor of Costco.

1969S Proof

FOREIGN

I found coins from seven new countries this year. The beginning of the year started really slowly for foreign coins, but I found six new countries in the last couple of months! I'm still coming across quite a few new foreign varieties.

Romania, Argentina, Venezuela, Botswana, Ghana, Nepal, Belize