Cherrypicking, simply put, is the art of buying coins or other collectibles at less than true value.
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LOUPE LIES ATOP an Alan Herbert book on Mint errors at left. To the side are another book on errors, by Fred Weinberg and Arnold Margolis, and The Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton.
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Coin collectors use the term most often in reference to uncovering a scarce, more expensive variety that a dealer has failed to attribute as such and so has assigned a normal price. Cherrypicking may also mean selecting coins that have been undergraded and so are priced below their fair market value.
Some collectors supplement their incomes or help pay for their attendance at hobby shows by making cherrypicking a major part of their coin shopping. Rather than concentrating on filling a few holes in their private collections, or making an upgrade, they may be seen on a bourse floor making a beeline from Dealer A to Dealer Y, turning a quick profit.
Experience, knowledge and that ineluctable attribute called expertise are all obvious advantages for which a cherrypicker strives. Many of the best would advise the collector who wants to get started in cherrypicking to do just that, get started, not be timid or reluctant - just reasonably careful. The buyer who also has an interest in making money will read as much about numismatics as he can find and will especially try to memorize what he learns from specialized literature. But he will need to plunge into visiting dealers, going to shows and viewing lots of coins.
Breadth of the search
Some researchers known for their cherrypicking skill and for their being the first to find and report varieties continue to stress the breadth of the search.
"The more coins you look at, the better your chances of finding a variety," says James Wiles, past president and attributer of modern die varieties for the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America.
"Look at everything!" CONECA President Mike Ellis says. "An often overlooked but tremendous benefit of doing so is this method greatly enhances your ability to grade coins. You also learn what is common and what is not."
Reading
Cherrypicking in U.S. coins involves preparatory reading and continued updating of the knowledge gained. You should know U.S. Mint processes and their history and gain broad knowledge of valuable varieties in all series.
Through knowledge about minting, you will be able to pick out subtle and overlooked errors. You will know to examine dates on series that began before the 20th century, for signs of repunching. You will know that before 1990, Mint marks were punched into individual dies and sometimes had to be repunched. You will learn to discern true die doubling from several types of apparent "doubling" that have no numismatic value.
The two most widely read books on error coins and how they are created are The Error Coin Encyclopedia, fourth edition, by Fred Weinberg and Arnold Margolis, and Official Price Guide to Mint Errors, sixth edition, by Alan Herbert. Study will not only give you an idea of what exists but also of what could not happen as part of the minting process.
The average collector could spend most of his hobby budget keeping up with specialized books by series. You could borrow as many as you can, or you could pick a few series to make your own specialties.
Many variety collectors use The Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Coin Varieties, by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton, as their bible. The third edition was the last to be published in one volume. The first volume of the fourth edition, covering half cents through 5-cent coins (not including silver half dimes), is available, with the second volume, covering other series, to be published in the future. The first volume also contains chapters on the minting process, the making of dies, the classes of doubled dies, other forms of doubling and recommended reading. A glossary, a list of specialty clubs and tips on mailing coins also are included.
A more expensive book but a trove of information is Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, published in 1988. This was virtually the work of a lifetime, but Breen rushed it to completion toward the end. It contains many factual mistakes but they are mostly petty and Breen at least notes a wealth of repunched dates and Mint marks, little known doubled dies and other varieties.
For 20th-century doubled dies and repunched Mint marks, the collector can turn free of charge to the www.conecaon
line.org Web site. The listings are minutely detailed but unfortunately there are no illustrations. This CONECA site also contains numerous articles varying from the general to the variety-specific.
Viewing
The cherrypicker will want to carry a loupe.
Ellis recommends a triplet over a doublet or single-lens loupe. Multiple-lens loupes give the viewer different powers of magnification, sometimes through using the lenses combined.
"On the bourse floor, 10x should be what you use. … Try to find a loupe that has clear viewing all the way out to the edge," he says.
The Cherrypickers' Guide gives this "helpful hint": "If you can't see the variety easily with a 7x loupe, it probably isn't a significant one."
Cherrypickers should learn "pick up points," a term popularized by the Fivaz-Stanton book, and used in some other attribution guides. These are key areas for identifying the variety. Collectors often call them "PUPs" pronounced as a single word. For PUPs as areas most likely to show doubling (doubled dies, repunched Mint marks, etc.), Fivaz and Stanton list them by series in the front of the book. For Flying Eagle cent obverses, for instances, look first to the eagle's beak, the eye, the tail, the date, the denticles below the date and the lettering.
For particular varieties, PUPs may vary from those generalized for the series.
"While most doubled dies are best seen on the peripheral lettering and design," Wiles notes, "sometimes dramatic doubling can be seen on the central design elements, like the eye, ear and chin."
Denticles near the date were often overlooked until recent years, when so many misplaced parts of date numerals have been found.
Premium varieties
Not all interesting varieties are worth premiums.
"There may have only been a few dies used for any given date and Mint and the most used of the dies may have a great die variety," Ellis says. The most common obverse die for 1875-S 20-cent coins has a "great" misplaced date in the denticles, he notes. "It is very common and one without the MPD is more valuable."
On the other hand, the 1909-S over horizontal S Lincoln cent is probably more common than cents with normal Mint marks but brings more money because of "unknowledgeable early publicity and market hype," he says.
Wiles also has this advice: "Look at all denominations, even those you don't have a real interest in collecting, because you never know when you will find something that will make good trade material."
Ellis recommends doing a favor for patient dealers: "When you get good at it, you will not be able nor will you want to buy all the varieties you find. When you reach that point, it is not a bad idea to point out the varieties you do not buy to the dealer and give him or her an idea on the premium."
