First-time Noodling

[Noelos237]

I have only recently began to "Noodle" through coins for errors and I have begun with 260 1 dollars. What exactly should I be looking for when it comes to $1 coins (in regards to errors and varieties)?

[JeffH]

No doubt you will get plenty of suggestions.
Use the "search" function (top, right of page) and you should find plenty of posts about errors. Also have a look at ACF coin wiki One Dollar.
A look through this thread Noodling Finds will get you plenty of relevant mentions with pictures.

[Goldseeker]

An excellent questi0on  that will have pages of responses.

Have a look for Mules, Rabbit Ears, etc topics on this forum and there you will find photos/scans of most of the varieties/errors etc found.

Below is a link to my picture Gallery that shows some rabbit ears etc.

https://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=128

At least that is a start.

[JeffH]

And here are some rim cuds.
If you click on an icon picture in a gallery it will bring up a page with a bigger copy and details. Click on the bigger picture and it will open a full size picture window so easier to see details.

[Hercules]

$1 coins have so many different cud errors that it's impossible to keep track of them all. Some of the more common ones are:
- Rabbit Ears
- Backpack Roo
- Spew Roo
- Poo Roo
- Cud on the tip of the 1
- Tail Cud
- Rim Cud

You've also got:
- 2000 Standard - $1/10c Mule
- 1999 Older Persons - Two different obverse sizes
- 2001 Federation & Volunteers - Two or three different versions of IRB
- 1996 Parkes - Rotated
- 2001 Federation - Rotated
- 2003 Suffrage - Two different reverses

There's also variation in the rim of some coins (esp. 2006), but I'm not sure whether it's worth keeping track of.

Also don't forget to keep an eye out for low mintage releases, such as the 2014 Standard and 2015 ANZAC coins. The 2003 Volunteers coin is also pretty scarce as well.

[Noelos237]

Thanks for your help everybody :yahoo:

I managed to find a couple of errors and have posted them in the Noodling Finds thread if you want to check them out.

[Fulvio]

I have only recently began to "Noodle" through coins for errors and I have begun with 260 1 dollars. What exactly should I be looking for when it comes to $1 coins (in regards to errors and varieties)?

Great question. Oh, and :welcome: BTW.

Coincidentally, I just picked up three bags of dollars myself. So, why don't I describe my process? I'll do it step by step.

1. I'm sitting in front of the computer obviously. I have a 100w Haloogen desk lamp next to the keyboard, and my left wrist is resting on its base. The light is extended in front of me  about chin height. I have a kneeboard in my lap with the mouse on it.

2. I have a 10x loupe. The sort that photographers use to look at slides on a light table. I turn this around so the wide end is over my eye, and I can then move the coin to focus the eyepiece end on it.

3. I'm opening the three bags and tipping them out in front of me. First step is to quickly separate them into several stacks:

- Mob of Roos go in one stack well out of the way. All facing the same way up. One shiny 2015 goes directly onto my 'keepers' pile, because if you look at my Decimal Mintages PDF, you'll see there are no figures for these yet.
- A 2003 Suffragettes also goes into the keepers. Low mintage. And a 2009 pensioners, only because I don't yet know for sure what to look for on these. I'll come back when I have a big pile.
- The remaining 4 coins are a pair of Parkes, a Dancing man and an Outback. I don't expect anything from these, but they go in the commemoratives pile next to to MoR's for now.
- Repeating this with the other two bags produces another 15 commemoratives. Three ANZACs and a 2011 CHOGM go straight to keepers.

4. Now to start looking at them. I start with the two 1999 IYOP and 2001 CoF. Check all four for rotations, since they're both notorious for this. Then sit the stack in left hand, along fingers, obverse up. Look for cuds around the queen's head, anything odd in the lettering, or planchet flaws. Flip the coin and check the reverse. #1 has very slight doubling of 'CENTENARY'. Nothing on the other three. Pity, I was expecting a cud in the wreath of one of the '99's. Akk fur coins go into a special stack of these, to be checked at a later date for Obverse sizes.

5. Now three 1988 Bicentenaries. One of them has a die crack from the tip of one of the star points to the rim. It goes into the errors stack. Look for cuds in the grooves behind the roo and between the dots above 'DOL'.

6. Quickly check the others. None are known for errors, so basically looking at obverse cuds and planchet flaws. 'Uluru' outbacks will be far too worn nowadays to be noticeable. Dancing Man hat cuds are rare. Peace and Parkes I've never seen an error on. Stack these rejects in lots of 5.

7. Now the roos. Same as before, obverse first for cuds, cracks and flaws. Then the roos for rabbit ears, spew roos, boxing gloves, lizard tongues, missing legs and anything else that might catch your eye. This lot produced a 2015 missing leg, a 2000 (no mule, sadly), 2004 and 2005 low mintage and a very nice 2013 with just the slightest hints of pre-cuds under the chin. The rest go into the reject stacks.

8. Bag up the rejects (I seal them into Armaguard bags to make them easier to handle/count), use your 'float' for dealing with overs/unders (I had three leftovers).

That's it. Take them to a different bank, swap for $5. Keep any first/last, radars, repeaters or just nice crisp(-ish, now that they're being actively destroyed) notes, take the rejects to the roiginal bank and get another batch of coins. Rinse and repeat.

[JeffH]

7. Now the roos.

Do you check 1985, 2005 and 2006 for upsets? I do as they have all been reported here.

[Noelos237]

Thank you very much Fulvio, I am now going to go back through these coins again now that I no what to look for. Just one quick question though, you said that you put aside the 2000 despite it not being a mule. Why is this?

[Fulvio]

2000 despite it not being a mule. Why is this?

Because its relatively low mintage.

Once I'm done, the keepers and errors get bagged separately, by denomination. The errors get a piece of the errors page I posted a PDF for recently. Then when I've got a decent sized stash, I go back and break them down by year. And finally I cull the worst of the bunch. So say I have thirty 2000's. I might end up keeping the nicest ten or so, and throw the rest back in the pond.

This also means I have a ready 'emergency stash' in case I need cash in a hurry. I can just go do a quick cull.

As for the upsets, I check every coin as I flip it over. Other than 2001 and a 1999, I've never found anything over about 10°. Got a nice 90° (or 270° maybe?) 2001 a few days ago in fact.

These exemplary coins get immediately bagged separately BTW. I don't want to have to search through a thousand errors to find something unique all over again.

[Noelos237]

Alright then I guess I better check out the mintage's on the RAM website. I'll tell you if I find anything else in this bunch of coins :ok:

[Fulvio]

Alright then I guess I better check out the mintage's on the RAM website. I'll tell you if I find anything else in this bunch of coins :ok:

Use my PDF. Its nicer, and has more info.

If you can't find the thread, look on http://fulvio55.altervista.org/ and its a ways down, but before the pics. Yeah, I really have to update the page. One of these days.. can't go rushing into these things after all.. :angel:

[trout]

A copy of Australian Coins and Banknotes by Greg McDonald would help you with all the various mintages including all the Mint Set only coins.
It doesn't have to be the latest edition and an older edition can be had quite cheaply.
It is a handy publication for the novice and the expert collector to use as a reference, Much easier than trolling through the internet for answers :good:

[Fulvio]

It doesn't have to be the latest edition and an older edition can be had quite cheaply.

Absolutely! :agreed:

You might even get one for free if you know someone who buys it every year. Or have a really friendly dealer.

Just don't trust the pricing information. Maybe just as a comparative guide, but even then, take it with a very large grain of salt.

[Noelos237]

Use my PDF. Its nicer, and has more info.

Just checked it out, great job on it :ok: