How Many Are Into Coin Roll Hunting?

Well, halves may not circulate in pockets, but they did circulate very heavily in Casino's, at least until they started replacing machines that spit out coins w/ ones that give you paper.

Greg, you might not want to give up yet - It took me over $200 in rolls to find my first 40%, and some people din't even find a single one in a $1000 box. You just never know what you'll find...

Oh, and awesome job on the Canadians chrycopaul - those are very pretty...

got five more rolls of halves this last week, nothing of interest except a 73-D that has the "half dollar" on the reverse doubled. checked ebay and there were two listed, most expensive at $14.50 so maybe it was worth the time but nothing spectacular.

If you don't play you won't win. You may not find anything in one box of rolls but you may find many good coins in another. Over the averages per roll I've had very good luck. 0,0,0, then some nice ones. You just have to play to win. If not just spend them and enjoy the look on someones face that hasn't ever seen one before. For me that's part of the fun.

I've been searching the rolls here in Canada for a few months, and I've found more Wheat Cents here than I ever did when I lived in the US. I haven't done a lot of nickel searching, so yesterday I went through $20 in nickels. Found one Centennial nickel (rabbit on the reverse, instead of the beaver), and a very nice 1953!

I've been searching dimes for the most part, ever since I managed to grab two silvers (one a Centennial) in one roll. I've only found one more silver since then, after searching about 30 rolls.

Pennies - I find 1 wheat for every 1000 coins or so, and 1 George VI for every 1500 or so. Any American coins, I stash aside, and (after searching), I take them when I go to the US and spend them there. Instant 15-20% profit for me. :)

I believe Canada stopped making the half dollars for circulation a few years ago. I managed to pick up a roll at the local bank a few years ago, but that took 3 visits and a call to the manager. It's a 1952-2002 roll, all in uncirculated condition, and one of the coins is slightly smaller, as it is missing the rim on once side. I haven't bothered to see what it's worth, but I haven't gotten rid of it yet either.

Here are some tips for searching rolls.

Buy larger quantity. The trick isn't to find that roll that's been laying around for years, but rather buy rolls that keep moving. Buy everything your bank has, then explicitly ask them to order another box. Keep repeating.

Return the coins to another bank (not just another branchJ). Open a savings account if you have to, but return the coins to a different bank all together. Preferrably, you want to return to a bank that uses a different coin wrapping company.

There will be dry spells, and there will be weeks you'll be wishing you ordered $10,000 worth. As long as the coins are flowing, you will find interesting coins.

Some things to look for.

1. Silver coins (this is obvious)
2. Proof coins (believe it or not, people spend these. They tend to jump out at you due to the quality)
3. Error coins (especially if you are getting uncirculated coins in your rolls. Look for clipped planchets, partial collar broadstrikes, strikethrough errors, Cuds, etc...)
4. Foreign coins (you will get sick of seeing these as most are worth less than what you paid for them)

Don't be discouraged, but you will find the inevitable penny, nickel, dime, etc.. in your half dollar rolls and feel jipped. I've also gotten short rolls (less coins than you paid for). I've also gotten rolls crammed with extra coins (very rare occurence).

It's also still possible to find the popular varieties in circulation, but one definitely needs a book to get familiarized with what to look for and it will take much longer to look for varieties.

thomas, great idea. I am going to try it tonight on my way home.
Jim

I've considered the coinstar/coinmaster/etc.. angle many times. From searching online, I discovered that most are actually leased and the store itself handles the coins.

I don't know if this increases the likelyhood of getting a manager to sell you the coins rather than taking them to the bank or if it reduces it due to how would he record the transaction. If it is store specific, this means that if one store says no, there's no reason why one shouldn't inquire at others.

If nothing else, just finding out what bank they take the coin to would be a boon as it is very easy to go to that bank and buy the coins out of their coin counter as most banks consider loose coin to be a hassle. Of course I have not figured out a tactful way to ask a store manager what bank they take their loose coins to as it might come off as one planning to rob someone.

Another consideration is that most stores I know use armored car services for dropping off cash, but I don't know if they use the same armored car service to pick up the loose coin.

either way, I would love to hear how it works out.