Looking for U.S. Coins With the Best Profit Return? Consider Cherrypicking These Series

Cherrypicking, cherrypicking, cherrypicking...that's exactly what it will take to make great money in the hobby.  Contrary to what the experts think about numismatics, coins can bring phenomenal potential in the market that is dominated by bullion demand.  As some of you have seen, we have just been through a nice downward spiral in precious metals over the spring and summer months.  So if you're not an investor or an armchair stacker that buys more than 1000 ounces of any one precious metal, then there's not a whole lot of money to be made because the profit is minimal with the paltry gains.  But if you're looking to turn around 50%-5000% in profit with one coin, then cherrypicking valuable varieties is for you.

To site an example of my most recent find, I recently bought a tiny lot of wheat cents through a dealer network that I've been working with here in California.  Now I'm not too naive, but I'm real sure that these have been picked through of most of the rare dates that are synonymous with the series.  However, I'm about 99.9% sure that the varieties have been left unscathed by the naked eye.  About half way through the 2000 piece lot, I found an amazing mint state red/brown 1956-D re-punched mintmark variety, it's designated 008 through Wexler's files and has that unmistakable and completely separated mint mark that is south of the primary D. In comparison to what I had paid for each piece (.05 cents), I turned around and auctioned this little gem on eBay to the tune $36.25.  And not including fees and shipping.

Now here's the whopper, let's calculate the exact percent increase from what I originally invested to what I grossed before fees.  I subtracted the current value ($36.25) minus the starting price (.05 cents) to get $36.20.  Then I'll simply divide the resulting dollar amount by the starting investment value to get 724.  And finally, I'll multiply the result from step two by 100 and I'll come out with the staggering number of 72,400%. Now this is not typical and is an extreme example of a great cherrypick.  But I'll be frank, these types of gains are much more common than you would leave it to be, especially in the Lincoln cent series.  And this is why the Lincoln cent series makes it into my top 5 U.S. coin series that hold great potential.  Let's look at some others.

#5 - Morgan Dollars

Simply put, Morgan dollars were the quintessential coin of the latter part of the 19th century.  Nothing screams out Americana than a great big silver cartwheel in your hand.  What some holders of these giant disks may not know, is that millions were produced during a time when die maintenance was of low priority. With these low maintenance standards of the dies, there are a great deal of ridiculous varieties to be found in all dates of the series, even the plentiful 1921.  Referring to previous auction estimates, some of the rarest Morgan varieties can sell for many thousands of dollars if it's in VAM world's Top 100 list.  For more information, please visit www.VAMworld.com

#4 - Mercury Dimes

Albiet a short series in some regards, the Mercury dime series has plenty to offer in terms of great varieties. Some of the well know dates include the 1942/1-D, 1936 DDO and just about any quasi common date with full split bands.  The most recent "big flip", turned out to be an eBay auction set of 1942 BU dimes with P-D-S coins.  The Denver example was the overdate with great looking split bands.  In the end, the new owner got it graded NGC MS65+ FSB, turning $20 into $20,000.  Clutch buy for sure!

#3 - Half Cents & Large Cents

There's never been a larger collector base than the Early American Coppers people.  The great thing I love about these coins is there are a wide range of dates and designs that encompass a true marvel in collecting varieties. The prices on these go from mild to wild in hurry, but if you can cherrypick a sought after variety, you will quickly exceed the benchmarks.  Online references are rather small, but if you can find books published by the originating attributors (Cohen - Sheldon - Newcomb), these are the premier sources for getting you hooked on historically important coins.

#2 - Indian Head Cents

Gaining in popularity ever since Richard Snow has begun to take his interest full force in the series, Indian Head Cents are probably the best and most prospective on this list.  Jaw dropping 1888/7 overdates and early white cent variants are coming to the forefront on various message boards as of late.  All I can say about Mr. Snow's conquest is ...thanks for making this a variety hunters dream!!

#1 - Lincoln Cents

No series comes close to cherrypicking dominance than the Lincoln cent series.  There's more than meets the eye here, lots of doubled dies, RPM's, OMM's, transitionals, errors, and a comprehensive grading core that breaks down mint color from brown to red.  In addition, there's a wide support of online resources from some of the favorite pros in the hobby.  Here's a short list of those sites:
www.coppercoins.com
www.lincolncentresource.com
www.doubleddie.com

Here's the example of my 72,000% return on my investment.  This is the
elusive 1956-D Lincoln Cent with repunched mintmark that is separated south
of the primary mintmark.  Varieties like this exist with continuous searching
and knowledge!