Building a Coin-Sorting Machine by Date: My Numismatic Experiment

As a lifelong coin collector who loves tinkering, I’ve spent months dreaming up a machine that sorts coins by date and mint mark. It seemed like an exciting project at first, but boy, did I stumble into some eye-opening challenges along the way. Let me walk you through what I discovered when I tried blending my two passions: coins and tech.

How I Imagined It Working

My vision involved optical character recognition (OCR) and image databases to automatically read dates. To handle multiple coins per second, I’d need some serious hardware. Here’s what became clear:

• Building a massive image library showing every coin side in all conditions—from fresh mint state to worn slick coins—plus different rotation angles
• Using edge detection software to match coins against references, with sorting bins for definite matches, rejects, and “not sure” cases
• Solving real headaches like inconsistent lighting, coins sitting crooked, and avoiding mistakes on rare errors—all needing complex code

The Money Question

Crunching the numbers brought me back to earth. High-speed cameras and hardware alone would run over $5,000. While some dedicated collectors might pay that, it’s a tiny market. Big players like Brinks wouldn’t care about date sorting, and manufacturing costs make selling these impractical. For coin roll hunters, the math gets worse when you factor in buying and returning boxes. Honestly? This is a passion project, not a money-maker.

What Collectors Told Me

Chatting with other hobbyists revealed some interesting possibilities. A machine could help hunt pre-1982 copper cents or spot rare Morgan dollar VAMs. A few even said they’d pay extra for automatic error detection. But most collectors prefer affordable, hands-on methods. My take? If you try this, start small—maybe sorting just one denomination—to avoid biting off more than you can chew.

What I’d Do Differently

If I started over today, here’s how I’d approach it:

• Build for the joy of learning, not profit—like when we spend hours grading a single coin just for the satisfaction
• Begin with a bare-bones prototype that handles a few coins at once before expanding (saves money and sanity)
• Stick to manual sorting for daily collecting—nothing trains your eye like spotting mint marks and wear patterns yourself
• Focus on software if automating—get that right and you’ve got something truly useful

Why I’d Still Try It

Despite the roadblocks, I still get excited thinking about how this could change date hunting. I’m tempted to build a clunky first version just to see what happens. If you’re into tech and coins, give it a whirl—but remember what we all know: half the fun’s in the search, not just the find.