My dad probably bought this because of the (relatively) low mintage and because it was one of the last years that S.F. minted business strike cents. I found the invoice: $92.50 ppd in Jan. 1974.

I can't decide whether to hang on to the unopened bag or give in to temptation and open it. Is it even possible to peek without getting carried away?

Seems like a lot to pay for cents back then, but now I would leave it unopened(been that way for 34 years now), I have no idea what they are worth now, but lot more than $92.50.

The seller had a 1973-D bag for $20 less.

I thought it was high, too. And shipping from Oregon wouldn't account for that.

I have some bags from the Denver mint, but they were opened and I got them a lot later. Now they store British pennies. I use a 1963 Royal Canadian Mint bag(curiously they shipped $60 worth of cents in it) for all my cent hauls to and from the banks. I stopped using the 1925 North of Scotland linen bag after I nearly left it at the bank.

keep it sealed! As much as I'd like to open it myself...

I have opened a ton of bags.... and have only found a few error coins... usually you end up with sore eyes and dirty hands.... and not much else..