Sort a coin box into three useful piles

You do not need to grade a coin to make the first useful sort. Dates, edges, holders, and obvious metal are enough.

Pile 1 · Spendable

Modern clad dimes, quarters, and halves; ordinary nickels; and common pennies. Pause on wheat cents, unusual designs, and anything already separated by the collector.

Pile 2 · Silver and bullion

U.S. dimes, quarters, and halves dated 1964 or earlier; Kennedy halves dated 1965–1970; wartime nickels dated 1942–1945 with a large mint mark above Monticello; silver dollars; and bullion pieces.

Pile 3 · Possibly collectible

Anything in an album, holder, tube, or envelope; anything gold; anything unusually old; anything with paperwork; and anything that simply does not match the rest.