If you are looking to buy from any seller, some Lincoln Cents, there are some terms you must pay attention to. Like the term UNSEARCHED. Want to try the lottery and see if you can buy some "unsearched" in hopes of the magical key dates? Let's explain the terms and how people use them.

"Unsearched by Me".  Wow! sounds good right? NOPE! just because the seller did not personally look does not mean anyone in their business or family hasn't looked. Beware. Remember you can ask any seller if these pennies where searched by the person who sold them to that seller. ASK whom their source is and research it.

"Large Hoard".  Whose "hoard"? bought from a old collector (estate sale), found in a barn, etc. Do some research on the seller. Look in their profile and see if they bought any pennies- there a a lot of re-salers. You can buy 5000 pennies and resale them in lots of 150 or reroll them. Some sellers are getting wise to this and are now using different seller ID's when they BUY coins and a different one to SELL the repackaged smaller version

"Unsearched rolls/bags pre 1940".  Ok you saw this one coming. HOW can they be all pre 1940 without being searched first? They can't be unsearched by everyone- someone has searched and sorted these coins- do you think those who look will keep the key dates in the rolls/bags? Good. right answer. Nope.

'Sealed bank bags". Lets get this understood quick- anyone can buy a empty bank bag and fill it up and seal it. they sell for just a few pennies. Always ask the seller WHERE the bag was sealed  by whom and which bank? Most likely the seller will only say theat they bought them that way. Right. Actual bank bags have the bank ID on them, dated etc.

"Key dates sold" Again , do your research. look to see who bought the key dates. A lot more times than not if you look at who got "lucky" and their profiles you will see a fun thing. Not all sellers do it but some sell to their other seller ID. multiple IDs most have under 20 feedback responses.

Weird words- "piggy bank" , "Cigar Box" If it sound too good to be true- well as the saying goes...its not

"Low shipping". Here is where you can really get burned. Compare the prices of say 500 pennies and include the mailing fees - there is a huge difference in some of these. ie $4.75 per roll plus 50 cents per additional roll vs flat $6.00 mailing/handling fee. Sellers can make up for a seemingly low price by having a higher shipping fee.

"Rolls"  The question here is who rolled them? look at the picture, ask the seller. If it looks like a machine rolled- find out who rolled them. The big item here is if the rolls are hand rolled crimped poorly then you can be pretty darn sure that they have just been re-rolled. Look at the roll itself in the picture. Currently you can buy a roller cheaply and do it yourself. but there are differences in the look of the paper used from decade to decade.

There are more  that I will get to later but remember- do your research, understand what you are buying and from whom you are buying from. Will you get the 1909 S VDB? 1922 plain? Probably not- you have a better chance of winning the lottery. Buy when the product is good, the seller is reputable and price is good. There are some very good sellers of coins on the internet but their are some really bad ones.

Research!